Seta Souji's True Journey
by Chris0289
Summary: Souji was defeated by Izanami. This single event will forever change the life of two Fools.
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I do not own Persona 3, P3P, Persona 4

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**Souji Seta 's True Journey**

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**Chapter 1:**

(3/20/2013)

I lost. I was powerless as I watched my friends fall one by one before my own eyes, trying to give me enough time to finish off this shadow, this monster, this **god**. Useless. This being has been playing with us from the beginning, making us believe that we had a chance to win only to crush those hopes and drown us into despair.

The first to go was Yosuke, my best friend, my partner. "_I believe in you!_". Those were his last words to me as he was swallowed up by darkness. It should've been me.

The second was Chie, headstrong and selfless . "_Don't give up!_". It should've been me.

The third was Yukiko, kind and caring. "_You're the only one who can win!_". It should've been me.

The fourth, Kanji. The tough guy of the gang. "_I"ll protect you like you always did for me senpai!_" . It should've been me.

The fifth, Naoto. The voice of reason from our group. "_You cannot afford to fall now senpai!_" It should've been me.

The sixth, Rise. Always smiling and full of energy. "_You're our only hope senpai!_" It should've been me.

There was only one left. I watched him smile sadly at me as he disappeared. "_They are all counting on you sensei ! Yosuke, Kanji, Chie-chan, Yuki-chan, Nao-chan, Rise-chan and me too! Everyone's fate in the real world rest on you! I know you can win sensei!" _It should've been me.

**I** was the one targeted! Not them! It should all have been **me** ! Power of the wild card, Infinite potential, a whole load of bullshit that's what it is! I was nothing but a puppet following the whim of the puppetter. Wielding a power that was never my own to begin with! How foolish! How arrogant was I? Because of my stupidity I lost the only people that I could call friends, family even! I looked up and glared at the **god**, tears streaming down my face, my will and mind all but shattered at the lost of my** world**. I would die here, I knew it, but I sure as hell wasn't going to make it easy! I stood up and tighten the grip on my sword. A white and blue light covered me as I channeled all of my remaining Spiritual Power(SP) on my body to enhance it far beyond human limitation. I lunged at the **god** and was upon** it **in less than a second. I slashed downward at _**her **_ face, materializing a card in the way of my sword, summoning my persona in the process. My slash was blocked by one of _**her**_monstrous arm. I saw a black-clad figure pass by me and putting his clawed hand in front of the **god**'s face. I smirked and pronounced a single word.

"Megidolaon"

It had the desired effect as I heard _**her**_ scream in pain, however I was also caught in the explosion resulting in my upper clothing getting completely destroyed and my chest bleeding heavily. I didn't care. I ignored the pain and watched Izanagi land at my side. I flared up my SP once again and summoned all of my Personae at my side, ordering them to attack. Fire, Electricity, Ice, Wind, Darkness and Light all converging into one to strike at the godly being. The platform we were on was completely destroyed, my Spiritual Energy reduced to nothing. I was barely standing, I watched the smoke dissipate, only to find _**her**_ nearly unscratched. I fell to my knees, exhausted but not surprised.

**"It's unfortunate that our battle must end this way..." **

I smiled, blood dripping down my face and answered her in a last act of defiance.

"..You win...this round..but...one day...someone..will..definitely..put an end...to your existence...humanity..will not fall to you.."

**"Everything I did was for the sake of mankind...Now, rest..."**

I was helpless as I was dragged down into the darkness...

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Unknown location

I opened my eyes with what little strength I had left. Fog. A land devoid of any life, filled with a thick fog. Was it death? Or was I still alive? I tried to move my body but no luck. I didn't sensed any pain from my fight. Yet again, I didn't feel anything anymore. Was this how I would pass eternity? Trapped in this barren land, forced to reflect on my actions? I suppose it would be a suitable punishment. I failed my friends. I failed the world. I was worthless...

...

I didn't know how many time passed since then. Days? Months? Years? Gazing into the distance of this cold white void. That was when I saw it. A butterfly. A blue butterfly flying in my direction. I was suddenly overcome with an overwhelming sense of nostalgia. I wanted to grab it...no, I **NEEDED** to. I couldn't explain this feeling inside me, I didn't even questioned myself as to how it could be here. I just knew what I had to do. For the first time in a very long while I tried to move my body, having nearly forgotten how to do so. I didn't sense anything but I didn't give up. I **COULDN'T** give up ! I saw my arm move in front of me even though I still didn't sense it. I willed myself to extend it and reach my target. And as I finally did so, my vision was filled with oh so welcome darkness.

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Velvet Room

"Souji-san, please wake up."

I knew that voice...

"*Sigh* Souji-san, please wake up, you've already slept more than enough."

I opened my eyes slowly. My vision completely blurred. I rubbed my eyes, trying clear my sight when realization hit me. I could move. I could sense my body. In fact I felt better than ever before. I scanned my surrounding. I was sitting on a sofa in the middle of what appeared to be a the interior of a limousine. I then took notice of three presences in the room. Right in front of me behind a table, fingers interlaced, wearing his usual black suit with a handkerchief protruding from one of the front pocket was Igor. I sure has hell wouldn't forget that nose and eyes. Though one thing greatly disturbed me at the moment. He wasn't grinning. In all my time in the velvet room that never happened. Even when he announced me that I failed to rescue that asshole Mitsuo in time, resulting in his violent death at the end of the Shadows and his body hanging on an antenna, the little bastard was grinning like a madman. So why...I let my gaze lingered to his left and saw one person that I could honestly call a friend. She had long silvery hair cascading down her back and was wearing a elegant blue suit. I looked at her, yellow eyes staring right back at me and called her name.

"Margaret..?"

She smiled.

"It's good to see you' ve finally woken up."

I tried to register her words. Woken up ?

"..Why am I here...? The last thing I can remember is..."

Izanami. I stood up and unconsciously grabbed my chest in pain and started breathing heavily as the memory rushed back to me. My friends falling one by one. The helplessness. The darkness, then the cold and eternal emptiness. I was dead. Killed by a Deity. And humanity probably suffered the same fate because of how weak I was. All of it was my fault! The pain in my chest was becoming unbearable, sweat dripping down my brow, my breath becoming more ragged by the second. I fell down on my knees unable to stand anymore.

"Souji-san! Please calm down!"

I looked up as Margaret put a hand on my shoulder and knelled down besides me.

"It's *gasp* my fault...All *gasp* of it..."

I could feel her grip tighten on my shoulder.

"It wasn't you fault. You've done everything you could."

I shook my head trying to push the images away.

"If I had been stronger, I could've prevented that! I thought that the power of the Wild Card would be enough to sort me out any situation...I became to reliant on it. It never was MY power! If I had saw that earlier, **I** **COULD'VE SAVED EVERYONE! **" I yelled.

"Could you really ?"

I turned my head toward Igor who was now harboring his oh so familiar grin.

"What did you say?" I snarled at him letting my anger take the better of me. Though he didn't seemed to mind.

"I asked of you if you could save mankind should you be given another chance. Would you go through anything, no matter how difficult the task may seemed to be or how much pain it would bring upon yourself to save your loved ones?"

II didn't even had to think about my answer.

"I would."

His grin got even wider at my answer.

"Marvelous. Then let us sign our new contract." He waved his hand making a contract appearing out of thin air.

Wait. What? I got myself back up and nod at Margaret, thanking her for her help, which she returned before returning near her master. I then return my gaze on the long nosed gentleman.

"New contract..?" I asked

"Indeed. Do you remember the one time you failed to save one of _this world _victims?"

"I do." Mitsuo, King Moron murderer. Accessory the ugliest guy on the planet.

"Then I assume you would also remember what choices I offered to you back then."

Choices? I felt my eyes widens as I realized what he was talking about. How could I not remember this!

"You turned back the flow of time..."

" *Chuckles* That is correct. In normal circumstances I wouldn't be able to offer you a second chance. But my master allowed me to do so for this one time only." Master? The hell? I always thought Igor was the Big Boss here. I didn't had time to dwell on it for long as Igor talked again. "However, should you decide to seize that opportunity, you must know that your journey will be by far more difficult than the previous one. Not only that, but several 'restrictions' or 'punishments' if you prefer, will be placed upon you. As for what I mean, I am afraid you will have to see that by yourself." He put the contract on the table and pushed it toward me. I took it.

_"I Seta Souji, do hereby swear to safeguard mankind by any mean possible, regardless of the enemy or conditions"_

This contract was completely different of the old one which only asked of me to accept the consequences of my actions.

I supposed it didn't matter much. If I could save humanity, if I could save** them**, I would go through hell and back!

I signed. I watched as the surrounding seemed to shift. No longer was the velvet room a limousine driving though the fog. It was now a gigantic Elevator with a thin fog covering the ground and hiding my feet from view.

"It would seems you have made your choice." I nodded. He waved his hand making the contract disappear.

"Time march on in your world. We will discuss the details of this contract upon your return. Until then, farewell.

I closed my eyes and let the darkness took over me.

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Unknown location?/?/?

I opened my eyes and let out a yawn. I hated going to the velvet room this way. Alright, first thing first. I had to found out where I was. I started looking around and quickly noticed I was inside a train. My Next step was to find where that train was going, that would be a little more difficult..

_"...The next stop is Iwatodai..."_

..Or not. Iwatodai. Now what the hell was I doing at Tatsumi port Island? Could it have something to do with our School trip? From what I could remember it was back in September. If that was the case it would mean I only had 6 months or so to stop Izanami. I now only had to confirm the date. I searched in my school uniform which was surprisingly intact from the battle and took out my cell phone. I turned it on and took a look at the date.

3/23/2013 - 23h45

Figures. Well at least I now knew the hour. I tried to dial Yosuke's number, only to find that I couldn't because my phone didn't appeared to be registered to any service. I sighed and continued to rummage through my uniform pockets and did a summary of my inventory.

~400.000 yens

Other world glasses

4 Smoke bombs

1 Defective Cell Phone

2 Chewing-gums

1 Mp3

I put the Mp3 around my neck and the chewing-gums down my mouth.

_"Iwatodai"_

_"This is the final train for Tatsumi Port island.."_

I got out of the train and turned my Mp3 on.

_"Now I face out! I Hold out! I reached out to the truth.." _Skip. You can go fuck yourself with your freaking truth for all I care._ "Every day's great at you Junes! " _The fuck? Why did I have the Junes theme on this? Probably when I lent my Mp3 to Teddie. I growled and skipped again.I ended up listening to Soul Phrase. I continued to walk out of the station and tried to think of where I could spend the night. I thought about Shirakawa Boulevard but put the idea aside immediately. For one I actually wanted to sleep and not listen to the moan and screaming from adjacent rooms. And second...Well going to a love hotel alone was kinda sad. I sighed once again and looked up in the starry sky to calm myself down. Bad Idea, I was speechless at the size of the moon. It was only half full, yet I had never seen it THIS big. For fuck sake it was ten times bigger than the full one in Inaba. Was the moon here this big back on the school trip and...Did the moon just turn green? No, not just the moon, the fucking sky WAS green. I detached my gaze from the sky and looked around me. I choked on my chewing-gum. Blood. The buildings were bleeding and the ground was flooded with said red liquid. But that wasn't all, there was coffins everywhere in place of people. Oh yeah and my Mp3 was down. What the hell was going on here? Could this be Izanami's doing? As I got my coughing under control, I started to run down the street and soon arrived at Iwatodai Strip Mall. I then spotted a worn-out newspaper on the ground and started looking through it.

3/29/2009 : _"More case of Apathy syndroms. It is still a mystery as to how ones contract it but several scientists..."_

I stopped reading here. I was four years in the past. Four Years. I knew I would go back in time but damn not that much! I started to realize by now the implications of Igor's words.

"Punishment huh ?..." I was erased from my friends memories for I was the only one to go back through time. That was my punishment for failing them along with mankind. I clenched my fists in both rage and sorrow.

**CRASH**

I whirled around at the noise dropping the newspaper. A black mass of liquid with red eyes was crawling on the grounds. Shadow. I immediately extended my arm to summon my Persona. Nothing. I was honestly startled as the shadow separate itself into three giant wrestlers and I was still unable to summon any of my Personae. I tried a different approach and just willed for my SP to reinforce my body. Still nothing. No personae. No Spiritual Power. No weapons. I ran. I ran as fast as I could. If it wasn't for the fact that three Hulk Hogan look alike was after my ass right now I would have noticed the speed I was actually running at. I continued to run as the scenery blurred before my eyes. After ten or so minutes I stopped. I actually managed to outrun them. My breathing was starting to calm down from the running. I began to ponder as to why i couldn't summon any personae and call forth my SP.

**BAM**

I was sent flying across the street. Those bastards had already caught up to me. I stood up shakingly and was thankful the strike didn't damage me too badly. I started to assume the same stance Chie took so many time during our sparring session. One of them ran at me is arm extended, ready to take my head off with his biceps, I ducked under it and slammed my knee in his guts. I watched the Shadow fall to the ground clutching his stomach but didn't stop here and performed a roundhouse kick that would have made Chuck Norris proud. His head detached itself from his body and the wrestler exploded in black smoke. Two more to go. Apparently they decided to attack me together. Both ran toward me in the same way the first one did. I ducked under the first one but was unprepared for the second one adjusting his course to actually catch me and throw me through a building. I was bleeding heavily, lying under a piles of rubble. My left arm seemed to be broken and the same could be said for some of my ribs. I saw the Shadows coming toward me, still unable to move. One of them picked me up by the neck trying to choke me, a dark smirk forming under his masked face. I couldn't do anything to fight back, my arms falling limply at my sides. I laughed mentally at my predicament, I was begging for a second chance to save humanity and I was going to die at the hand of a common Shadow. Maybe I wasn't made to be a hero. Maybe I should've stayed dead.

No...I didn't have the right to die now. If I was to fall here who would protect my friends. Yes..I could still hear their voices..They entrusted me with their hopes. Yosuke, Chie, Yukiko, Teddie, Kanji, Rise, Naoto. I understand now. This life was no longer my own. My life now belonged to mankind. I forgo the right to give up the moment I signed that contract !

I suddenly felt a rush of power course through me and kicked the Shadow in the chest with my new found strength hard enough to force him to drop me. I could hear the sounds of peoples screaming in the distance but I didn't care. There was only one voice that mattered to me. _His_ voice. I raised my functioning arm, palm open, pointing to the heaven. A blank card was laying on it. I then repeated the word that marked the beginning of my journey one year ago.

"Pe..so..na ! "

I closed my hand. Crushing the card. A pillar of white energy rose up to the sky, bathing the world in light.

_"Thou art I..And I am thou..From the see of thy soul I cometh..From the very moment of my emergence, I have been a guiding light shed to illuminate thy path...I am the original god __**Izanagi-no-Okami**__."_

I could only smirk as the two Shadows were trembling in fear before the white-clad god. My wounds, healed the moment I summoned it. I turned around and nodded at him.

"It's good to see you back" He nodded back, acknowledging my words. "Now, let's give them hell!" I turned back once again and rushed at the nearest shadow using my SP on my legs to enhance my speed as well as their strength. I mentally ordered Izanagi to handle the other Shadow and as soon as the command was sent the wrestler was disintegrate by an enormous bolt of lightning. While that was going on I closed upon my own Shadows and decided to use my own version of Chie's finishing move on the bastard who tried to choke me to death. I kicked him in the nuts with a super powered kick lifting him off the ground, I started rearing back the same leg and struck a him once again with a yell of "Galactic punt !" The wrestler soon became nothing more than a point in the sky.

"What the hell?"

I looked in the street at the outburst ans saw three people staring at me in shock. I waved at them.

"Yo ! One one of you mind taking care of me while I sleep? Defeating those Shadows completely drained me. Thanks and Night !" I announced cheerfully as I fell into unconsciousness.

**End of chapter 1**

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Chapter 1 has been revised. They were a lot of errors in it. It still probably the case but to a much lesser extent. Enjoy!


	2. Chapter 2

Disclaimer: I do not own Persona 3, P3P, Persona 4

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**Chapter 2:**

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Tatsumi Memorial Hospital 04/05/2009

I woke up in a hospital room. I seemed to be alone and noticed my belonging laying on a table. My school uniform was on a chair next to my bed. I stood up and locked the door of my room, I then proceeded to take off the hospital gown I was currently wearing and took note of the wide scar present on my chest. A reminder of my fight with Izanami, casting a Megidolaon a point blank range wasn't my brightest idea, even though it did the job well. I finished putting on my old clothes when someone tried to open the door.

"Just a minute!" I shouted. Seriously they could at least try to knock, asleep or not. I sighed and walked to the door. I unlocked it and was faced with a redhead woman who gave an aura of authority, behind her a white haired teenager wearing a red suit. I recognized them as the people I saw before passing out.

"Ever heard of knocking?" I asked them, not bothering to hide my annoyance. I didn't really care if I was being rude, they started it. I could see the eyes of the redhead twitching at my comment.

"My apologize, I though you would still be asleep." She replied, though I knew by her tone that she didn't mean a word of it. I sighed.

"Whatever...Anyways please come in..I suppose.." I let them in.

"My name is Mitsuru Kirijo, and this is Akihiko Sanada." She gestured at the young man.

"How is it going ?" He asked me

"Fine, I guess. Given the circumstances."

"We would like to ask you some questions if you don't mind." I looked at her, then nodded after a moment.

"Go ahead."

"First off, what is your name ?"

"Souji Seta" There was no use trying to hide my real name. They wouldn't find anything anyway.

"Very well then, Seta-san. Do you remember what happened before you fell unconscious?"

"Yeah." I replied simply. Not caring to develop my answer in the least. That seemed to piss her off a little if her frown was any indication.

"Then, would you care to tell us what you remember or is it to much of a bother ?" She was pissed alright. Didn't care though. I shrugged and answer.

"Got off the train, the moon and sky turned green. The walls were bleeding, the people transformed into coffins. Was kinda disturbing at first but I was more preoccupied with the three Shadows after my ass. I ran from the strip mall to where you found me ,with them chasing after me. I managed to take one out by crushing his ribs with my knee and lobbing his head off with my leg. The two others attacked me together. I dodged the first one but not the second and was sent flying. I was going to die but I finally managed to summon Izanagi so taking them out wasn't a problem anymore." How I loved their shocked faces.

"I-Izanagi..?" Asked Mitsuru.

"My main Persona."

"Wait, you mean you know about Shadows and Persona ? And what do you mean by main one? " I sighed at that. I didn't want to give to much information. It's not like I could tell them "Hey, I'm from the future and was sent back to prevent certain event from taking place, oh and also I'm not human !". Speaking of that, I started to remember my last visit in the Velvet room.

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(Flashback)

Velvet room 03/29/2009

A card was floating in front of my face. On it, the picture of Izanagi-no-Okami. The card was surrounded by light. That was quite a beautiful sight.

"It would seems that you have passed our test with flying color. For you to awaken the power of the world. *Chuckle* That is very interesting indeed." I glared a little at Igor.

"Was that really necessary? To send me in the real world just to get my ass kicked then calling me back?"

"Of course. You needed to realize the implication of our contract. Had you failed to do so, your journey would have come to an abrupt end." I sighed. He was right. It was thanks to this event that I realized that I wasn't fighting for myself anymore. I wasn't living for myself anymore. I was only there to protect humanity. No matter what troubles I would encounter. I watched the card disappear inside my body.

"I think it is quite time to discuss the inner details of our contract, but first, let me introduce you my second assistant ." He gestured at a woman with short silvery hair. Just like Margaret she had yellow eyes and was wearing a blue elevator attendant uniform.

"My name is Elizabeth. It's a pleasure to finally meet you. I've heard much about you from my sister." She said with a smile. Sister? Does she mean Margaret? I remember her telling me about it but wasn't she supposed to have left the Velvet Room? I stood up anyways and bowed to her.

"It's nice to meet you. Though, I was under the impression that you had left the Velvet Room years ago from what Margaret told me."

"Indeed, I left the Velvet Room soon after our previous guest departure, in the hope to find a way to deliver her from her cruel fate. However, due to the current circumstances I decided to come back to provide you with my assistance." Cruel fate? I tried to remember what Margaret told me back then. Something about a seal. My thinking was cut short as Igor spoke again.

"Years ago, a godly being know as "_Nyx_" came down to this world. Nyx, is the incarnation of death, called by humanity's wishes for deliverance. Just like Izanami, Nyx cannot be defeated by normal mean. Not only that, but her power is far greater. Our previous guest had no other choices but to use her life essence to seal Nyx away from the world. She, became the Great Seal. Keeping Nyx at bay from mankind for eternity. Our previous guest destiny is now directly intertwined with yours. You, are to prevent the same event from taking place and ensure both her survival, and that of the world. You, must defeat the one who cannot be defeated. That, is your task." I stayed still for a while at the revelation. Defeat something stronger than Izanami? Was that even possible? I started rubbing my temples in an attempt to soothe the incoming headache.

"..You talked about restrictions and punishments the last time I was here..what are they?" I wanted to get this out of the way as soon as possible.

"For one, you will not be able to use the power of the Wild Card, and that until you face yourself, so to speak." I kinda excepted this one, though what did he mean with the second part. I decided to ask.

"You mean facing my shadow ?" He shook his head and answered with an even bigger grin.

"You'll have to face your greatest fear and defeat it." Izanami. I was scared at the idea of confronting her again. Not much by the fight itself but the idea of losing everything once again.

"Your second punishment was to be erased from your friends memory. Should they ever gain their memory back will depend solely on you." My heart skip a beat a that. I had a chance to bring their memory back ? I looked at Igor with a determined face.

"What do I have to do ?"

"You still have a piece of them inside of your soul. Close your eyes." I did as instructed.

"Look deep inside yourself. Can you see them? Individually they are weak, but together, they, form your **world**." I tried to concentrate. Soon, the vision of a card bathed in light appeared in my mind. Izanagi-no-Okami. I focused on it. There was something hiding behind the light. Cards. I smiled. I could clearly see them now. I opened my eyes. Six cards appeared in front of me.

"Susano-o, Suzuka Gongen, Amaterasu, Rokuten Maoh, Kanzeon, Yamato-Takeru." I announced their names. But one was missing. Kamui. Teddie's persona. "Why is Kamui missing ?" Was it because Teddie wasn't human ? Did he revert to a Shadow? I clenched my fists at the thought.

"I assume you are referring to your other friend persona. I am afraid I do not have the answer to your question. Even to us residents, this friend of yours remain a mystery." I knew Teddie had stayed alone a long time before meeting us. Even if he did revert, there was still a chance to bring him back to his human self. I vowed to myself to find him as soon as I would go back to Inaba. The cards then disappeared inside my body, pretty much like Izanagi did.

"Is there anything else ?" Igor nodded.

"There is one last thing. It is both, a gift, and a curse." I raised an eyebrow a that but listened nonetheless. "It was impossible to bring you back in the state you were in. The only way to do so was to alter your body." I didn't like where this was going.

"The last of your punishment, is the loss of both your identity and humanity." What ? "As it is, Seta Souji never existed in the real world. In essence, you became like us, one who rule over power." He waved his hand, making a Human sized mirror appear in the Elevator. I walked to it, albeit shakingly. Afraid of what I would see.

I could only gasp at what I saw. I was taller, not by much though. My muscles were more defined, I wasn't bulkier by any mean but the difference was still there. Whereas my old hair was gray they were now silvery, pretty much like that of Elizabeth. And last of all, my eyes. I could see my reflection starring at me with those yellow eyes, like some sort of cruel joke.

"..What the hell.." That was pretty much the only thing going through my head right now.

"Souji-san, I know this might be a lot to take in, but there was no other alternative." I turned my head toward Margaret. "Even though your body is different, your soul is still that of a human. Do not forget that." I nodded but stayed silent.

"While the price for this change is heavy, they do not come unrewarded. You are now stronger and faster than any normal human. Your reserve of Spiritual Energy has increased dramatically and you are no longer restricted to a set number of Personae. Last of all, you can now use certain set of skills proper to us, residents." I nodded again. Still trying to proceed the idea of not being human anymore. Is that how Teddie felt when he found out about his origin? I push the thought away and tried to convinced myself that it was needed to face my enemies. I let out a long sigh and asked the last thing that I needed to know.

"How much time do I have until the arrival of Nyx ?"

"Nyx will descend upon earth on January 31th of the year 2010. But let me warn you, fighting Nyx without the power of the Wild Card would be a foolish endeavor" Roughly 10 months, give or take a few days. I had 10 months to grow strong enough to defeat not one but two gods, with one of them being the incarnation of death herself. He really wasn't kidding when he told me this journey would be tougher than the last one. But it's alright. I will not give up. Never.

"I will defeat Izanami and Nyx as stated by our contract. I will not back down from my engagement regardless of what may happen. That is a promise."

"*Chuckle* I didn't except anything less. It would seems our time together has come to an end. Hold on to this." A key appeared in front of me. I recognized it immediately. I put the key inside my uniform.

"It would be wise for you to keep what you've learned here to yourself, you never know who you can, or cannot trust. Time marches on in your world. Next time we meet, you will come here of your own accord. Until then, farewell."

(End Flashback)

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I shook my head to clear my thought. The two of them waiting for my answer. One more patiently than the other.

"I've been fighting Shadows for quite some time now. As for what I mean by main one it's simple. I'm wielding a power know to some as the wild card, which allow me to call multiples personae. Though right now my power seems limited to seven different personae compared to the nearly two hundreds I once had."

"Two hundreds? I'm sorry but I find that hard to believe. There is no ways for someone to wield more than one persona" Red stated. I shrugged and called forth two cards in my hands.

"Suzuka Gongen! Susano-o!" I crushed them, summoning the two gods in the room. They didn't except that as they both jumped backwards at their apparitions.

"Is that enough of a proof ?" I dismissed the two personae.

"How did you summon them without an evoker?" I looked at the white haired man. Akihiko I think.

"An evoker ?" He then proceeded to take out a gun from under his vest and put it to his head. I was about to stop him from blowing his head off but was to late.

"Polydeuces!" I watched in wonderment as his persona appeared behind him.

"You shoot yourself in the head to summon your persona...That's actually pretty cool but damn that's unpractical in combat." I materialized my card once again and showed it to them.

"That's how I do it, I'm able to summon cards, a different one for each personae, I just have to destroy said cards to summon them. I personally like to fight with two handed swords and often materialize my cards in the way of my slash to both summon and cut at the same time."

"It does seems like an useful skill indeed. You said that you have been fighting Shadows for over a year now, but also pointed out that it was your first time experiencing the Dark Hour. Does this mean there are other places where Shadows appear ?" Mitsuru was looking at me with narrowed eyes. Time to put my acting skill into practice. I looked down in fake hurt. And started spoke in a low tone.

"I don't know, to be honest I've lost a good part of my memory. The only thing I can remember are my name, the information about my personae and what shadows are. I also know I was the leader of a team composed of persona users, but that's about it..."

"If you want to lie you'll have to do better than that." Game. Set. Match. I glared at her and took of my shirt.

"Wh-What are you doing ?" She shouted in embarrassment but could only gasp as she saw my scar. Akihiko too was shocked at the sight.

"I'm not lying! This is the reason I don't remember anything! I'm lucky enough just to be alive!" That shut her up. I was quite proud of my performance.

"I'm sorry, I had no idea." She said looking at the ground. For a moment no one said anything. I decided to speak up.

"So what now ?

"*Cough* First could you put you shirt back on ?" Forgot about that. I got dressed quickly.

"We would like you to join us. We, are the S.E.E.S . The Special Extracurricular Execution Squad. Our job is to protect normal people from Shadows and investigate the reason behind the Dark Hour." Again with that.

"That's the second time I hear you mention this 'Dark Hour' but you never explained what it is."

"The Dark Hour is a time period hidden between one day and the next. It occurs every days at midnight. This is what you experienced when you came here. Normal people aren't aware of it because they turn into coffin during that time. But sometimes, the process fail and the Shadows appears to prey upon their mind. Surely you've heard of the Apathy Syndrome." Oh I remember it, I remember the reporter on TV going crazy over it, everyone seemed to contract said sickness for no apparent reason, but it stopped completely from one days to another. The victims, going back to their usual self. There were no explanation as to why this happened but now I understand. Nyx. She was the reason. The end of Apathy Syndrome must had coincide with the sealing of Nyx.

"So this is related to shadows huh...guess I shouldn't be surprised. I'd like to take you up on the offer, though I don't have a place to live right now so this may have to wait a little until I settle down."

"This won't be a problem. I already had arrangements made for you to stay at our dorm and had a room prepared. I will also sign you up to attend Gekkoukan High School as of tomorrow." Well that sure was nice of her, though there was no way I could attend there, I didn't have nowhere enough money to pay for the tuition. Sure I had a little more than 400,000 ¥ but I was keeping them for emergency situation. I sighed.

"I appreciate the gesture but I must refuse, I don't have the means to pay for this school." Why is she chuckling now?

"You don't have to worry about that, my family own the school so everything will be free of charge." She did say her name was Kirijo. To think that she would be related to the group though. I bowed to her in thanks. "Thank you, I appreciate it."

"Think nothing of it. See that as my way of thanking you for joining us. Well then, if you are ready to leave we will now head for the dorm." I looked outside the window. The sun was starting to set. I nodded at her and started gathering my belonging. We soon left for the dorm. It took us a little under ten minutes to arrive during which I was questioned on my fighting style by Akihiko. He seemed quite impressed by my "Galactic punt" the other day. Ah, it was nothing compared to the real thing.

"We're here" Mitsuru announced. We were in front of an old building.

"How many people live here ? I asked her

"Four, counting yourself, I'll introduce you to our last member." We entered the building and were soon greeted by a brown haired girl.

"Seta-san, this is Yukari Takeba. As I said earlier she's also a member of S.E.E.S." I bowed at her and gave one of my most charming smile.

"It's nice to meet you. My name is Seta Souji. I hope we can get along." She blushed a little. Success in my book.

"N-Nice to meet you too." She bowed at me.

"Seta-san will be living in this dorm from now on, as he possess the potential to experience the Dark Hour. He will also be attending Gekkoukan in two days. Now that the presentation are done, please follow me, I'll show you to your room. "

I followed her upstairs guiding me at the end of the hallway.

"There it is." She handed me a key " Try not to lose the key. Your uniform should be ready by tomorrow." I nodded.

"Well if you don't mind I'm going to retire for the night. I'm still quite tired."

"Of course, please do so"

I opened the door. A bed, a TV, A mini-fridge and a desk. Nice.

"Thanks again for everything, see you tomorrow." Before I could close the door though..

"Wait, there is one last thing I wanted to ask you. You said you arrived here in train the night we found you. Why were you headed to Iwatodai in the first place?" I tried to think of an excuse and soon enough got the perfect answer. I smiled a her.

"I guess you could say I was looking out for the truth, Night." I closed the door.

* * *

**Chapter 2 End**

Well, I think it turned out OK.

I thank you for the reviews and will try to improve little by little.

Now onto the story itself:

Is Souji overpowered ?: No, right now he is basically at lvl 5-10(Maybe even lower). His new body does present an advantage compared to others persona user but he will not become godlike just because of that.

Pairings: 90% chances of it being SoujiXHamuko (Don't know if I will keep this name yet)

Skill as a resident : I didn't really put much thought on this yet beyond the ability to see into one's soul(Seeing one's arcana and persona if there is one)

And that's all I can think of right now, so see you next time!


	3. Chapter 3

Disclaimer: I do not own Persona 3, P3P, Persona 4

* * *

**Chapter 3:**

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Iwatodai Dorm 04/06/2009

I groaned as the sunlight pierced through the windows, hitting me right in the eyes. I tried to look for a alarm clock to check how much time I slept but found nothing of the sort. I made a mental note to buy one today. I sighed and grabbed my cellphone on a chair next to my bed.

16h49

Damn. I stood up and put my school vest on. I also needed to buy clothes. And a bag for school. And a lot of other things. I sighed once again. I glanced into the mirror above the sink, my usual gray eyes, starring back at me. I started channeling a tiny bit of SP and saw them turn yellow immediately. How the hell would I explain this to everyone? Hiding it during the day wouldn't be a problem, as only the use of SP seemed to turn them back to their now real color, but during the Dark Hour...I shook my head clear.

"I'll cross that bridge when I come to it."

Time for shopping. I headed downstairs and was greeted by Mitsuru.

"Finally awake I see." I shrugged and answered.

"What can I say, I need my beauty sleep."

"Well I guess it's alright, as long as you don't forget that you have school tomorrow."

"Of course I didn't forget." Not when your looking at me like that. Wonder what her reaction would be if I were to ditch. For some unknown reason I felt a shiver run down my spine and my battle senses screaming 'DANGER' at the thought.

"Are you alright?" She asked me.

"Y-Yeah I am. Well if you excuse me I have a some shopping to do as I pretty much came here without anything." I also need to get away from you.

"Very well. Try not to come too late though."

"Any reason?" I asked. Mitsuru nodded.

"Someone else will join the dorm as of tonight." Oh.

"Persona User ?" I inquired.

"We don't know yet, so I'll ask of you to be careful as to what you say around her." Her? With some luck it would be my predecessor. Or was it successor now? Damn time travel.

"Alright I'll try not to take too long. I'll see you later." I then leaved the dorm and made my way toward Paulownia Mall.

* * *

Paulownia Mall

After a few hours of shopping and over 150,000¥ worth of expense, I had finally everything I could think of. I even ended up buying a laptop and a new phone, not wanting to reactivate the old one as the model didn't exist yet. While I was going from one shop to another I began to think about my next course of action. I was now a member of S.E.E.S but still didn't know much about this Dark Hour. It was so different from the TV world. Here the fight was taking place directly inside the town. The damage done on the building I was sent through the first night I came here were still present. Which makes me wonder, how the hell did the normal people react when they woke up from the coffins. I mean it's not a common occurrence for a wall to just crumble instantly. I would have to ask Mitsuru. There was also the question of Nyx and Izanami and how to defeat them. My Spiritual Rank(SR) had been reduced to 5. And it was the same for all my Personae. I now only had access to some of the most basic skills. I needed to train and fast. Then finally came the most important question to me.

"How do I bring them back..."

My best bet was to go inside the TV world and storm through each of the "dungeons" if they were still there. The TV world was supposed to be the 'world inside people heart'. Theoretically I could reach them this way. But it still goes back to the same problem. I was currently too weak.

"Hey you!" I gained my focus back as I heard the gruff voice. Apparently through my musing I had walked to Port island station. In front of me three people roughly my age. All of them harboring a arrogant smirk.

"Yeah?" I asked.

"Me and my buddies have a problem..you see we are kinda short on cash, so about you give us your money and we'll be going." Alright, three generic thugs. I could see the crowd around us edging away. I put all of my bags on the grounds carefully. Only one thought going through my head: TRAINING TIME.

"Don't worry, when I'm finished with you three money will be the last of your problems." I said to them with a cheerful smile. They lost their smirk.

"You don't know who your messing with kid!" Snarled the supposed leader. I literally burst out of laughing at that. I was holding my sides. This guy was way over his head. If only he knew. He was glaring now, clearly not amused by my actions. The leader rushed at me, his fist heading toward my head. So slow. It was nothing compared to Shadows. I slapped the fist away and headbutted him. I then grabbed his shirt and repeated my previous action but with more power. The guy was unconscious, his nose utterly destroyed. I winced at that, I honestly didn't want to damage him THAT badly. Seems I would also need to learn how to control my strength with this body.

"Still want to continue?" I asked them, hoping the state their leader was in would discouraged them as I had lost any will to fight after my mistake. No such chance, they just tried to attack together. I grabbed the fist of one and threw him at his partner. The other caught him, preventing his comrade fall but I took advantage of that and kicked the thug in the front right in the stomach. I was sure I felt some of his ribs break. They both fell on the floor, one of them screaming in pain, the other barely hurt. I sighed and addressed the only one in good condition.

"If I were you I would get both of them medical attention, or do you want to get hurt too?"

The guy seemed to hesitate before charging at me. Idiot. I didn't even had to move. I just smashed my feet against his head as he rushed to me. They were now two of them screaming. I calmly returned to my bags, took them, and walked away, not caring of the look I was given by the crowd.

* * *

Iwatodai Dorm

"I'm back." I announced as I entered the dorm. It was pretty much dark outside.

"Hey Souji-san. Whoa, what's up with all those bags?" I glanced toward the lounge. Yukari was sitting there.

"Well, me joining S.E.E.S and staying at the dorm wasn't really planned. So all I had here was this clothes and what was in it. Hence why I had to spend the last three or so hours at the mall. And please, you don't have to use 'san' with me, we're going to fight Shadows together so I'd rather like to drop any formality between us. That is if you don't mind of course" I asked her.

"It's alright with me as long as you do the same, Souji-kun" She replied with a smile that I returned.

"Will do, Yukari-chan."

"By the way, Mitsuru-senpai asked me to inform you that your school uniform was ready." I thanked her and walked back to my room. Two set of clothes were laying on my bed. I dropped my bags and started the long and boring process of arranging all my stuff. Two hours later I was finally done. I took the Gekkoukan uniform and a towel and headed toward the bathroom downstairs for a much needed shower. Once I was finished, I inspected my new look in the mirror. It was weird to see myself wearing those clothes.

_*Gurgle*_

I put a hand on my stomach. Now that I thought about it I hadn't eat anything since...before the fight with Izanami. How was I even standing?

"Probably has to do with this body..."

I walked out of the bathroom when the light of the dorm seemed to go off for a minute before coming back. I shrugged it off and headed to the kitchen to prepare something for myself. Only to find that nothing was working, even the fridge was dead.

"It's because of the Dark Hour" I was startled by the voice behind me.

"Damn, don't scare me like that Mitsuru-san" I said turning around. I regretted it immediately for as soon as I locked eyes with her I was on the receiving end of a massive rush of information.

Mitsuru Kirijo, Spiritual Rank: 19

Arcana: Empress

Persona: Penthesilea, Resistance: Ice / Weakness: Fire

Skills: Mabufu, Bufula, Marin Karin, Dia

I closed my my eyes and grabbed my head in pain.

"Are you alright?" Mitsuru asked me. Her voice as monotonous as ever.

"...Your persona is called Penthesilea, right?" I asked her, my eyes still closed.

"H-How?"

"Don't know, I just locked eyes with you and learned her name among other things..." I started opening my eyes to look at her. It was a bad decision if Mitsuru gasp of shock was any indication.

"..Your eyes..they are...yellow...?" Shit. Shit. Shit. Apparently the Dark Hour itself was enough to trigger the change, just like the Velvet Room. I made a mental note to kill Igor as soon as I would find a Velvet Door.

"What is going on Seta-san?" Why the hell was she always so pissed at me? "Why did your eyes changed like that?" And now she was glaring at me.

"Hell if I know, that's pretty much new to me too." Didn't seemed to work. Still glaring.

"I see. I will leave it at that, for now." Meaning: I don't trust you. Not one bit.

"You know, I'm wondering why you invited me to join S.E.E.S if you have so little trust in me." I asked her in annoyance, even though her doubts were completely justified. After all I pretty much lied about everything but my name.

"To keep an eye on you, for one." Direct aren't you? "I've done my research on you 'Souji Seta' " So that's what it's all about. Well if you want to play like this..

"Oh? You know if you're 'SO' interested in me you just had to say so." I said with a sly smirk.

"Wha-" I cut her off.

"I mean, I really didn't thought you would be the stalker type, but then again. I guess the saying is true, it's always the quiet one." I nodded sagely, ignoring her reddening face. "Still, that must be quite the crush you got there, to go as far as to invite me in this dorm under the guise of joining S.E.E.S. Even offering me to pay for school. Man, how didn't I see that earlier." And now for the finish. "I bet you even took the time to visit me at the hospital while I was unconscious...You didn't take advantage of me, right?" I was enjoying this moment so very much. Watching Mitsuru stuttered incomprehensible words while her body was trembling in rage.

"Y-You..." She hissed. Was the room getting colder? "**You...!**" She was shouting now. And glaring. Again.

"What's going on I heard shouting?" I glanced toward the new voice and got another rush of information, without the headache this time.

Akihiko Sanada, Spiritual Rank: 14

Arcana: Star

Persona: Polydeuces, Resistance: Lightning / Weakness: Ice

Skills: Sonic punch, Zio, Dia

I smirked inwardly. This was perfect.

"A lover's spat?" I told him, trying to keep my face face as straight as possible. His eyes grew wide in fear and I soon understood why as I barely dodged an ice spike aimed at my head.

"**I'll execute you!" **Oh god. Mitsuru was charging at me with a Rapier in hand. WHERE THE HELL DID SHE GET THAT? I rolled aside evading a slash and switched my persona to Suzuka Gongen to avoid getting skewered by ice. She was really trying to kill me.

* * *

Roof

Thirty minutes later, Mitsuru had finally stopped to attack me. I was badly beaten and my new uniform...Well let's just say I'll have to wear the other one tomorrow. It was only the two of us on the roof, Akihiko had run away after Mitsuru destroyed the lounge.

"You're..crazy.." I gasped, trying to catch my breath.

"What was that, I didn't quite hear you?" She asked with narrowed eyes.

"Nothing miss." That woman is scary.

"I thought so." And with that she headed downstairs as if nothing ever happened. I shook my head and decided to follow. While we were going down the light turned off. I now knew this was related to the start and end of the Dark Hour

"Who's there? How can you be..But it's...Don't tell me...!" Was that Yukari's voice? The light turned back on, revealing Yukari, pointing her evoker at a ruby-eyed girl. Is everyone in this dorm mentally unstable?

"Takeba wait!" Yelled Mitsuru. Yukari seemed to calm down as she saw us. Then she saw the lounge.

"Wh-What the hell happened here? Who did something like that?" Mitsuru and I both looked at each other and nodded in a silent agreement.

"**Akihiko**" Was our reply. Mitsuru then walked to the other girl. She had redish-brown hair and was wearing the standard Gekkoukan uniform. I could hear the song coming from her headphones. Burn my Dread.

"I didn't think you would arrive so late. My name is Mitsuru Kirijo. I'm one of the students who live in this dorm." She explained.

"...Who's she?" Inquired Yukari.

"She's a transfer student, it was a last minute decision to assign her here." So she's the one she was talking about. "She'll eventually be moved to a room in the normal dorm."

"..Is it okay for her to be here?" Translation: Does she have a Persona?

"I guess we'll see." Translation: If she don't have one we'll kick her out. "This is Yukari Takeba, she'll be a Junior this spring just like you."

"Hi, I'm Yukari." It's amazing how bored she sound when she said that.

"Why do you have a gun? Asked the still unnamed girl.

"Um, it's sorta like a hobby..." Oh god. "Well not a hobby, but.." I decided to intervene. I put a kind smile on my face.

"Don't worry, it's not a real gun. It's more for intimidation purpose than anything else." She seemed to relax a little at that. "My name is Souji Seta, it's nice to meet you." I bowed.

"Hamuko Arisato, likewise." She bowed at us with a now cheerful smile.

"It's getting late, you'll find your room on the third floor. Your things should already be there. I suggest you tuck in for the night." Said Mitsuru.

"Oh, I'll show you the way. Follow me." After both Yukari and Hamuko were gone Mitsuru addressed me.

"You're not going to sleep yet?" She asked.

"Nah, I'm going to prepare myself something to eat before. I didn't ate anything since before the Shadow incident and you trying to kill me took all my remaining strength." I told her with a mid-glare.

"You're the only one to blame for that." She said, leaving me alone. I then prepared myself something fast. While I was eating someone entered the dorm. I glared at him.

"You freaking traitor."

"Y-You're still alive?" I rolled my eyes at that.

"She chased me for half an hour before stopping. But yeah she nearly killed me more than once. By the way I hope you don't mind but we both put the blame on you for the lounge." I announced casually, finishing my meal.

"What?" Revenge sure is sweet.

"Yeah, so don't be surprised if Yukari and the new student look a you warily. Night." I returned to my room leaving a shocked Akihiko behind. I took off my uniform or what was left of it, set my alarm clock, got to my bed and soon felt asleep.

* * *

Souji's room04/07/2009

_Riiiiiiiiiing Riiiiiii_-

**SMASH**

So much for the new alarm-clock. I took out my phone.

06h47

Not even five hour of sleep. I considered falling back asleep. It was just the first day at school, it's not like we were going to work right? But then Mitsuru would try to 'execute' me, and two days in a rows was a big No-no for me.

"..Damn that woman..." I stoop up and let out a big yawn. I then prepared myself for a annoying school day.

**Knock. Knock.**

"It's Yukari, are you awake?" I opened the door. Yukari and Hamuko were there.

"Good morning, did you sleep okay?"

"Yeah, not nearly enough though." I replied.

"What's that on the floor?" Hamuko asked. I turned around and looked at what she was pointing.

"My new alarm clock, bought it yesterday." Pieces of it was scattered on the floor. I turned back, they were starring at me as if I was crazy. "I'm not a morning person." Yukari shook her head while Hamuko laughed at me.

"Anyway, Mitsuru-senpai asked me to take you both to school. Are you ready to go?"

I grabbed my bag. "Ready."

"Okay then let's go."

We soon got on the train and Yukari started to explain that our school was on a man made island. I wasn't really listening. No, I was remembering about my first day at Yasogami High. Those two schools were completely different. Damn, how I miss Inaba and my friends.

* * *

School

"Well, there we are. Welcome to Gekkoukan High. You're gonna love it here." If only that was true. Once we were near the school lockers Yukari turned to us.

"You're both okay from here right? You should go see your homeroom teacher first." Well at least there was no way the teachers here could be worse than King Moron. " The faculty office is right there to the left...And that conclude the tour." Fast. "Any question before I go?"

"**No**" Both Hamuko and me answered.

"About last night, don't tell anyone what you saw, okay? See you later." Once she was gone we tried to look for our name on the bulletin board. I was looking through the class roster of the third years student when Hamuko called me.

"Souji-kun! You're name's here. We're in the same class." She said with a smile. I looked at the paper with both of our name. Class 2-F. I was a second year. Again. But maybe, it wasn't that bad of a situation. I would have more time to train since I wouldn't need to study too much. Yeah. This was working at my advantage. I glanced at Hamuko.

"Well, shall we go see our homeroom teacher then?" She nodded and we walked to the faculty office. We were then greeted by one of the teacher.

"Oh, are you the new students? Hamuko Arisato and Souji Seta." She then looked at her files. "Wow, you've lived in a lot of different places." Probably reading Hamuko's file. "Let's see, in 1999.. That was what ten years ago..Your parents..*gasp*" I saw Hamuko flinched a little in the corner of my eyes. It didn't take a genius to understand the situation. "I'm sorry. I've been so busy, I didn't have time to read this beforehand. I'm miss Toriumi, I teach composition. Welcome to our school." I just nodded at her.

"Pleased to meet you." Hamuko said. Though it was easy to see that she still had her mind elsewhere.

"My, aren't you polite? Girls like you should be an example for others. Have you seen the class assignments? You're both in 2-F. That's my class. But first, we need to go to the auditorium. The Welcoming Ceremony will be starting soon." We both followed her out of the room. While we were walking I turned my head to Hamuko.

"You alright?" She seemed surprised at my concern, but nodded nonetheless.

"Yeah. Just, bad memories..." After a minute in silence I sighed and decided to talk.

"My parents were always working as far as I can remember.." She glanced at me. "I could consider myself lucky if I saw them one day per year. Always going from one place to another. Sure, money wasn't a problem thanks to that. But I grew up nearly parentless. I didn't had any friends either as I was changing school every time they moved. It was just me and no one else." I sighed. I didn't know why I was talking about that. I was taking a big risk. If Mitsuru learned about this conversation she wouldn't let go of me until I told her the truth. "I'm not going to pretend that I know how you feel. Our situation are different after all. But we do share some similarity. What I'm trying to say is, if you ever want to talk, don't hesitate to come to me, alright?" She didn't said anything for a while. She was just starring at me. Then she smiled and nodded.

"Thanks"

"You're welcome."

We arrived at the auditorium and sat next to each other. The principal then started his speech.

"As you begin the new school year, I'd like you to remember the proverb: If a job's worth doing, it's worth doing well. When applied to student life, this mean.." Boring. While the principal was going on with his talk, I heard students whispering behind me.

"I've heard we got a transfer student."

"Yep. I've seen her come to school with Yukari and a random guy." Said the guy in a quite disgusting tone. Not only they were speaking as if we weren't in front of them but they were calling me a random guy? I closed my eyes and start channeling my SP to create spark of electricity under his seat. The result was quite funny. The guy stood up abruptly screaming like a girl and slapping his ass. Pretty much every one in the room had a good laugh at that, except for the 'poor' dude who got detention on his first day. I kept my eyes closed for a while, not wanting anyone to see them.

* * *

Classroom

The day was finally over. I was seated next to Hamuko and behind Yukari in class.

"Want to go home together?" I glanced at my left. Hamuko was looking at me with a bright smile.

"Sure." I stood up, though before we could leave a guy came to us.

"Sup dudes? How is it going?"

"You are?" I asked

"Me? I'm Junpei Iori. I transferred here when I was in 8th grade. I know how tough it is being the new kid..So I wanted to say 'Hey'..See what a nice guy I am?" I saw Yukari entered the room. "Hey, It's Yuka-tan!" Yuka-tan? "I didn't think we would be in the same class again."

"At it again huh? I swear you'll talk to anyone if they'll listen." That was quite a bitchy comment. "Did you ever think you may be bothering someone?"

"What? But I was just being friendly." Time to poke some fun a them.

"You two look like an old couple." That stopped them immediately.

"I agree." Nice back up Hamuko.

"**What?**"

"You're even in synchro." I said with a smirk.

"Definitely love" Hamuko nodded.

"Maybe we should leave them alone then."

"Yeah, I would feel bad to interrupt their time together. See you tomorrow Junpei-san, Yukari-chan" We both leaved before they could say anything. Once we passed the door we gave each other a High Five.

"That was quite impressive of you, Hamuko-chan"

"You weren't bad either, Souji-kun" We then got home together making small talk.

* * *

Iwatodai Dorm

Later in the night I found Mitsuru reading a book in the lounge.

"You already replaced everything?" The lounge was now as good as new. Better even. The new couches were of top quality and we now had a big flat screen TV.

"I doubt you came down here to talk about that." I sighed.

"You're right. I want answers."

"Don't we all?" And here comes the glare. The first of the day.

"Why is it that the Shadows Incident last week didn't raise suspicion with the normal people? I was sent through a wall, and last time I checked the damage were still present. So why?"

"The Kirijo group covered it. We made it appear as a traffic accident." Well that sure explain it.

"What do we know about the Dark Hour?"

"..Next to nothing I'm afraid." Lie. I didn't press on.

"From where did theses Shadows come from?"

"Tartarus." I raised an eyebrow at that.

"Tartarus?" Mitsuru sighed.

"Tartarus is a labyrinth that only appear during the Dark Hour. All the Shadows are originated from this place." Kinda like the dungeons in the other world. Perfect place to train.

"So, when are we planing to go there?"

"Not for a while. We must first determine if Arisato-san is indeed a Persona user or not."

"Most likely she is." I stated.

"What makes you think so?"

"The time she arrived at the dorm for one. The light were still off, meaning the Dark Hour wasn't completely finished yet. The mp3 around her neck was also dead and came back on only when the light did. Also her shoes were slightly soaked even though it didn't rain, most likely because she walked on blood."

"..You're very observant." Closest thing to a compliment I would get from her.

"Why, thank you."

* * *

Classroom 04/08/2009

I got to school with Hamuko this morning. When Yukari arrived though she gave both of us an evil eye. Probably because of yesterday. The lesson was boring as hell. Why would I care of knowing Toriumi favorite author?

"Were you listening Junpei? Who did I say was my favorite author?" Well except to evade detention..

"Ummm..." He then turned discretely to me. "Psst who does she like?" I sighed

"Utsubo Kubota.." I told him. He repeated.

"Ah..So you were listening after all." Sure was..

"Of course I was!" He turned to me "Thanks dude" I nodded lazily. I then discretely put my headphones and music on. Then took a nap.

I was woke up by someone stealing my mp3. I cracked an eye open. Hamuko. She was now listening to it.

"Ehh, I've never heard those songs." Would be surprised if you did.

"They aren't supposed to be out yet." She didn't seemed to hear me, she was completely immersed into whatever was playing. Even though she wasn't answering to anything she ended up following me when I leaved the class and headed home.

* * *

Iwatodai Dorm

I entered the dorm with a still unresponsive Hamuko. I started wondering if I would ever get my mp3 back.

"Oh, they're back." I looked in the Lounge. Yukari was here, with some other guy I never saw before.

"So this is our new guests" Said the man. He then came toward us. "Good evening. My nam-" I raised my hand to cut him off.

"Just a second please." I turned toward Hamuko, starring in the distance. I took 'my' headphones off her ears.

"Hey! I was listening to that!" And now she was pouting. I sighed and turned back to the man. "Sorry about that. You can continue."

The guy coughed. "My name is Shuji Ikutsuki. I'm the Chairman of the Board for your school. Ikutsuki..* chuckles* Hard to say, isn't it?" Not really. "That's why I don't like introducing myself" Then please stop and let me go back to my room. "Even I get tongue tied sometimes..." He glanced at Hamuko. "I apologize for the confusion regarding your accommodations. However, it may take a while longer before you receive the proper room assignement. Is there anything you'd like to ask?"

"Who else live here?"

"There is only five students in this dorm: You, Yukari here, Mitsuru, your friend here, and a senior named Akihiko Sanada."

"The one who destroyed the lounge?" I cracked a smile at that and was quick to answer her.

"The same."

"So that's why everything was changed..I may have to talk to him later. Do you have another question?"

"No, I'm fine."

"Then, I hope you have a successful school year. Now if you'll excuse me I would like to talk to Seta-san for a moment." She nodded and leaved for her room. With my mp3. Damn it. "I've heard a lot about you from Mitsuru, Seta-san."

"Oh?"

"She informed me that you were a Persona User. Furthermore, that you had the ability to summon multiple Personae, is that correct?" I immediately channeled my SP changing my eyes. It didn't go unnoticed as both Yukari and Ikutsuki took a step back in shock.

Shuji Ikutsuki, Spiritual Rank: N/A

Arcana: Tower

Persona: None

Once I had his information I looked at Yukari.

Yukari Takeba, Spiritual Rank: 1

Arcana: Lovers

Persona: Io, Resistance: Wind / Weakness: Lightning

Skills: Dia

My eyes then returned to normal.

"Sorry about that, I was just gathering some 'data' if you would. That being said, you do not have a Persona. So how are you aware of it?" I narrowed my eyes at him.

"Ah, Mitsuru did mention that you were able to see her Persona. As for how I know about Persona, I am able to access the Dark Hour, even tough as you saw, I do not possess one. Still, what a fascinating ability!" I nodded, satisfied by the answer.

"For your first question: Yeah, I'm able to summon seven different personae at the moment."

"Incredible. Someone able to summon more than one Persona. This in unheard of!" I'm awesome, we already know that. Can I go now?

"Was there anything else? I asked.

"One last thing. Did you remember anything about your past?" I shook my head.

"Nothing yet."

"I see. If you remember anything please do not hesitate to tell us." I nodded then left for my room.

* * *

School grounds 04/09/2009

Hamuko was walking to school with me. Again. That was becoming a habit of sort. Not that I minded but..

"Man, you two are always together. What's up with that?" Asked a smirking Junpei. Yeah, it seemed like rumors was starting to go around. I shrugged at him.

"We live in the same dorm. It's nothing unusual."

"Yuka-tan lives here too" He had a point... "So, how you doing Hamuko-chan?"

***Silence***

"Hamuko-chan? "

***Silence***

"Why isn't she answering?"

"She's been like this since yesterday. Listening to music non stop and starring in the distance." My music.

"That's a bit creepy." He was then kicked by Hamuko. Guess she heard that.

* * *

Iwatodai Dorm

It was the Dark Hour. For some reason I wasn't able to sleep. I heard a commotion outside of my room and got out to check. I saw Mitsuru, Yukari and Ikutsuki running down the stairs. I followed suit thinking something had happened. Once I was downstairs I saw Akihiko leaning against the door. Wounded.

"What's going on?" I asked running to them. I had my answer in the form of the dorm getting hit by something.

"What the? You gotta be kidding me?" Yelled Yukari

"Mr Chairman, please head for the command room. Takeba, go upstairs and wake her up! Then, escape out the back" Ordered Mitsuru.

"But, what about you three?"

"We'll stop it here. You led it to us Akihiko, so I'm afraid you'll have to fight."

"Like I had a choice! What are you waiting for Yukari, go!"

I looked at Mitsuru. "Do you have any weapon I can use?" She nodded and took something out of the closet behind the entrance counter. A plain two handed word. Seemed like she remember what I told her. We soon rushed outside looking for the Shadow that chases Akihiko. We found it waiting at the end of the street. Or so we thought.

"That's not the same Shadow!" Yelled Akihiko. In front of us was a flying white horse with a white knight riding it. Said knight was wearing a blue mask and had a spear as weapon.

"What?" Mitsuru was panicked at that. Understandable. If the original shadow wasn't there, it could only mean she was still at the dorm. Since both of them didn't move for a moment I decided to take command.

"Mitsuru, take the right side, I'll take the left. Akhiko, assist us with lightning and healing spell only, you're still too injured to help us physically. Now go! The longer we take here the bigger the danger is for the ones at the dorm!" I didn't wait for their answers as I bolted toward the knight. I slashed the card of Susano-o on the way.

"Garu!" The storm god appeared behind me, sending a blade of wind at the knight who barely flinched. I saw a spike of ice heading toward him from the right but seemed to be absorbed within the shadow. I was about to take a hit from his weapon when lightning stuck at the knight. It was just enough diversion for me to dodge the blow. There was only one element left to use. I switched Persona.

"Amaterasu!"

A bolt of fire flew at the knight, effectively taking him off his horse. I rushed at the steed and took it's head off with a single cut. The knight him, was getting overwhelmed by Mitsuru constant assault and Akihiko's lightning. I crushed the sun goddess card once again and sent out another wave of fire in the back of the monstrosity. It fell to the ground once again but before it could stand up Mitsuru stabbed his head with her rapier, destroying it.. I turned to them.

"No time to rest, to the dorm now!" They nodded and we started running. The door of the dorm was destroyed, it wasn't good at all. I followed Mitsuru and Akihiko to the fourth floor. We entered a room with some kind of console and monitor. Ikutsuki was in there but no Yukari or Hamuko. Then I saw the screen. I ignored the camera displaying my own room for the moment. There! They were on the roof, a giant shadow armed with blades heading toward them. I was about to run out of the room when Ikutsuki called me.

"Wait! This situation may provide enough stimuli for Hamuko to awake her Persona. I'm sure they can handle this themselves." What..? Mitsuru and Akihiko were still, watching the screen albeit reluctantly. I snarled at them.

"**You people are disgusting!" **I leaved the room using my SP to accelerate as much as I could. The door of the roof was locked.

"Izanagi!" I blasted the door off with a Zio spell and finally got to the roof. Yukari was on the ground but not hurt. However the Shadow was heading toward Hamuko. I saw her raising an evoker to her head.

"Per...so..na!"

**BANG**

"_Thou art I, and I am thou..." _Orpheus. I could see her name. She had brown hair and a yellow mechanical body. She also had a giant heart shaped lyre on her back. I was brought down to my knees soon after. Something was ripping her persona from within. I could only see and sense one thing at this moment.

**Death**

Was it not for my past experience with fighting powerful Shadow I would have most likely passed out from the sheer presence of this creature. I watched as it did quick work of the monster and roared to the heaven before taking back the form of Orpheus.

_Thud_

"Hamuko!" I stood up and ran to her. She was unconscious. Summoning this thing must have exhausted her.

"Look out!" I heard Yukari yelling at me. I looked up to see two black mass with blue mask heading toward us. I glared at them. I switched to Susano-o and materialized his card.

"Sukukaja!"

I crushed it and immediately felt lighter. I lunged at the nearest Shadow and cleaved it into two different part before it could react. However I was hit by the other one and sent skidding across the roof. I tried to steady myself as quickly as possible. The Shadow was still crawling toward me. When it was close enough, I swung my blade at it from the right side but the weapon was caught by one of it's hand. I quickly took my left hand off the grip and switched back my persona to Izanagi. I was gathering all my remaining SP into my hand, changing the very nature of said energy. It wasn't long before my entire left arm was coated in lightning.

"Go to hell!" I stabbed my hand through the Shadow's mask ending his life instantly. I was panting heavily but I couldn't rest yet. I walked shakingly to Hamuko and picked her up bridal style.

"Are you okay?" Yukari asked, running to me. I nodded slowly.

"..Yeah..Just tired. It's her I'm worried about.." I heard footsteps coming toward us. Mitsuru, Akihiko and Ikutsuki. I glared at them, having lost any respect I had for those people. I walked toward the exit.

"Wait! Where are you going?" Ikutsuki demanded. I continued to walk, summoning Susano-o card under my feet. I didn't care that I was exhausted.

"Bash.."

**BAM**

Ikutsuki was hit by my Persona hard enough to knock him unconscious.

"Mr. Chairman!" Both Mitsuru and Akihiko ran to the man. I glanced at them.

"Sorry, thought it would provide enough stimuli to awake is Persona..Guess not..When I come back the three of us will have a long and nice discussion as to why you shouldn't let your little kouhai fight against Shadows on their own. Especially when they never summoned their Persona before."

When I was outside the dorm I saw Yukari catching up to me and demanding answers. I told her what had happened and to say she was pissed was an understatement. We ended up at the hospital when the Dark Hour came to an end. Apparently Mitsuru had contacted the staff since Hamuko was taken in charge immediately. I left the building with Yukari but not before threatening the doctors that if anything happened to Hamuko I would kill them one by one. I was angry at myself to have so blindly trust S.E.E.S.

"What do we do now?" Asked Yukari.

"We go back to the dorm and confront our senpai. Worst come to worst, we both leave S.E.E.S and find a way to handle the Dark Hour on our own." I said to her.

"..Can we really? I've joined them to get answer but now..."

She started explaining to me how her father was working as a scientist for the Kirijo group ten years ago and died in an explosion. However something clicked in my head.

"Ten years ago...Hamuko's parents died ten years ago too...Could this be related? After all you both have the ability to access the Dark Hour.."

"I know, I've read about her file already and thought the same thing.." I looked at her.

"You've been spying on us too right?" She flinched a little. Having seen the 'command room' and some of the screens displaying our rooms, I already knew what was going on.

"Sorry, I felt bad doing it but I thought it was necessary. However I never imagined they could go this far just to add a new persona user to their rank..." I nodded satisfied with the answer.

"I forgive you, but I except you to come clean with Hamuko too when she wake up."

The dorm was coming into view.

"I know."

We entered the dorm. Mitsuru and Akihiko were there.

"I assume the bastard is still out cold?" Mitsuru glared at me but nodded.

"What you did was unnecessary." She said.

"Because you two watching Hamuko and Yukari getting kill by a Shadow wasn't?" She lowered her head but didn't respond. I took a deep breath. "Yukari and I will stay with S.E.E.S, however, should you pull anything like this ever again, we will both leave and create our own group dedicated to the investigation of the Dark Hour." The statement took them by surprise. "Furthermore, we will not follow any order that will come from Ikutsuki as he is the one who is responsible for this situation." I finished.

Nobody said anything for a moment. Then Mitsuru nodded.

"..Very well..For what it's worth, I apologize for what happened.." This statement was followed by a nod of Akhiko who also seemed to regret his decision tonight.

"Now that everything is out of the way, I'm going to rest a little. Good night." I headed upstairs with Yukari following me. As she was about to go to her room I called her.

"Yukari."

"Yeah?"

"It may not be much, but I promise to help you found out what happened ten years ago. Be it with S.E.E.S or on our own." I saw tears appeared at the corner of her eyes and she gave me smile.

"Thanks..It means a lot to me..Good night, Souji-kun."

"'Night, Yukari-chan."

* * *

**Chapter 3 end**

Finally over. My longest chapter.

This chapter didn't came out like I would've wanted to though. Especially the fight scenes. I really need a lot of work on that.

I think the only thing that came out quite O.K are the funny scenes. Mitsuru execution being one of them.

I've edited the first chapter. Not to change the story but to correct a lot of grammar mistakes.

NightmareSyndrom: You were right, I really thought it was much more than that hence the four hundreds, I've corrected it, thanks.

Shikigami: Also corrected, thank you, I'll try to get it right from now on.

Now questions time!

Is Souji OOC: Well, not really since he doesn't have a real personality in the game. Sure the answer to some question may portray him as a serious person but that would be boring. Beside this Souji has been through a lot so that explain his comportment. Especially in this chapter where he threaten to kill the doctors should anything happen to his friend. He may not really do it but he sure would give them hell. The safety of his friends is the most important thing to this Souji.

Social Links: For the moment I don't know what to do with that. Souji will have to work on social link but I don't want to make the same one as Hamuko so I may introduce new people. No OC but I've been considering a social link with peoples like Igor, Elizabeth, and maybe even the reaper if I go on with what I have planned for him. :p

Skill as a resident: Honestly I still don't know what to do with that... So yeah..If you have suggestions, just shoot!

Relation Souji/Hamuko: I 'm really curious as to what you think of it, so if you review the story please add a comment on that, in fact the same for the humor scenes. Thanks

Who will lead S.E.E.S: Koromaru?

Well I'll end this here. The next chapter will take more time. I thank you all again for the reviews.

See you next time!


	4. Chapter 4

Disclaimer: I do not own Persona 3, P3P, Persona 4

* * *

**Chapter 4:**

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School Grounds 04/10/2009 (Friday)

Yukari and I were on our way to school. I was kinda surprised when she knocked at my door this morning, I suppose saving her life got the two of us a little closer. But going to school together meant rumor would soon start to fly around. Speaking of rumors...

"Oh, Oh! Today it's Yuka-tan I see!" Said a smirking Junpei.

"Good Morning to you too Junpei." I said.

"What do you want Stupei?" Asked an irritated Yukari.

"Nothing. I just saw you two and decided to say hi." He replied casually. He then turned his gaze to me. "Still, what would poor Hamuko-chan think if she saw you cheating on her like that?" I so wanted to wipe out that smirk off his face.. "Speaking of which, where is she?" I sighed. I knew that question would come sooner or later.

"..Hospital, there was an accident at the dorm yesterday. She's still unconscious for the moment.." I told him, trying to keep it as vague as possible.

"What? Is she okay?"

I nodded "Yeah, she just need to rest now."

"But, what happened exactly?" He asked, thankfully Yukari answered that.

"We can't tell you." Simple, yet effective.

"What? Why?" Demanded Junpei. I decided to follow Yukari's example.

"Because."

We pretty much ignored Junpei after that.

* * *

Iwatodai Dorm

As we both got home we were greeted by Mitsuru and Ikutsuki. I immediately glared at him and had to restrain myself to bash him again, literally. I also saw Yukari clenching her fists in the corner of my eyes. I focused my attention on the Chairman as he started talking.

"I want to apologize for what happened yesterday. It was my fault the situation got out of hand. Mitsuru informed me of your resentments toward me and I would like both of you to please give me another chance." I took a deep breath before answering him.

"It's Yukari's decision if she choose to forgive you or not and I don't have any said in it, but for me, I sure as hell don't." I started raising my voice at this point. "Had I follow your fucking order they would both be dead right now! All because you wanted to test one of your theory! We are not pawns that you can dispose as you see fit! So I will tell you this, and you better take good note of it." I shifted my eyes to their real color and locked them with him. " If you endanger my friends ever again, I will exterminate you." Before he could answer, Yukari did.

"I don't forgive you either. And as Souji-kun said to Mitsuru-senpai yesterday we won't follow any of your so called 'orders' anymore." We both leaved the room as there was nothing more to say.

* * *

School 04/11/2009 (Saturday)

School was over for the day. I was about to leave the classroom when Junpei called me.

"Hey Souji! Wanna go hit the arcade?"

"Sure." I shrugged. It's not like I had anything else to do for the moment.

We both spent a little over two hours at the arcade before going our own way. Before leaving the mall though I heard some kind of humming sound. It was coming from my uniform pocket.

The Velvet Key.

I immediately took it out and started looking for the Velvet Door that was without a doubt nearby. It didn't take me long before I spotted the blue light coming from an alley behind the police station. I rushed toward it and sure enough the door was there. I used the key and entered.

* * *

Velvet Room

"Welcome, Master Seta." Came Elizabeth voice. I groaned at that.

"Souji. No master. No Seta. Just Souji please." I told her.

"I couldn't do that. It would be terribly improper of me." She stated. I looked at Margaret who was chuckling. It was exactly the same situation as before. It took me six months to get her to drop the master thing and even then she still used the 'san' suffix.

"You two are sisters indeed..." I shook my head and put the issue aside for now. I sat on the couch in front of Igor. I closed my eyes for a moment thinking about everything I wanted to ask. I decided to start with the most important question. "What was that thing that came out of Hamuko? It definitely wasn't a Persona."

"That creature you saw yesterday, was but a mere fragment of Nyx." Igor responded.

"W-What? But why was this inside her then?" I asked, shocked by this new information.

"That, I cannot tell you." I noticed his grin receding a little, even though it was barely noticeable. I knew better that to question him on his reason. I decided to change the subject, I would have to find out more about this thing by myself.

"How long will it take for her to wake up?" Not only her awakening would mark the start of our investigation, but I was also worried now that I knew what this monster was.

"It will take some time for her to regain her strength, you'll just have to be patient." He really wasn't helpful today.

"What happened to my eyes? I can see people's arcana and persona when they are activated." I already had my doubt has to what it was but I needed confirmation.

"That would be one of your new abilities. As I told you before, this new body of yours allow you to use skills proper to us, residents. Your eyes merely grant you access to see into one's soul, which is why you were able to get those information." I thought as much. But he did say it was only ONE of them.

"What are my others abilities?"

"As you grow in strength more of your abilities will show by themselves. When that time come, we, will help you to master them." I sighed. I was tired of waiting. Izanami and Nyx would not wait for me..

"I presume Hamuko doesn't know anything about Nyx and me right?"

"That is correct."

"Good, please keep the fact that I can access this place a secret for now. I'd rather not have to explain everything to her." I stood up. "Thanks for the help. One more thing though, why didn't you tell me that my eyes would change with the Dark Hour? Do you have any idea how weird it was to explain to the others?" I asked with a glare.

"My apologizes. It would seems that I forgot that detail." He said with his grin widening. Bastard! He knew it perfectly! I groaned and headed for the door.

"See you guys later."

"Until then, farewell"

* * *

Hospital 04/19/2009 (Sunday)

Ten days had passed since the full moon incident. And I was still waiting for Hamuko to wake up. I passed nearly all of my free time training on the roof of the dorm, getting reacquainted with all of my old skills. I was nearly executed by Mitsuru on several occasions for destroying said place. Apparently the fight against the last shadow had increased my SR. I was now at Rank 6 along with Izanagi, Amaterasu and Kanzeon. I also visited Hamuko at the hospital from time to time hence why I was there today. I knocked at the door and was surprised to hear someone telling me to enter. Yukari was in the room with a fully awake Hamuko. I waved at her.

"How you feeling?" I asked.

"Great, just a little tired." Hamuko replied. I nodded and looked at Yukari.

"You explained the situation to her?"

"More or less. I figured our senpai would want to talk to her so I saved most of it for tomorrow." I nodded and took my mp3 from around my neck. I handed it to Hamuko.

"Here, I suppose it will help you pass time until you get out of here. Though try to give it back this time." She snatched it the second I extended my hand.

"Thanks!" She said with a big smile.

"Well, I'm going back to the dorm. See you tomorrow." I then leaved the two of them alone. Once at the dorm I informed Mitsuru of the situation. Things were finally starting to move and soon it would be time to explore Tartarus.

* * *

School Grounds 04/20/2009 (Monday)

"Dude!" I turned my head toward the voice and saw Junpei coming toward me. "I got something to tell you!"

"What is it?" I asked, intrigued. It was weird even for Junpei to be this excited about something.

"Actually..Wait, I 'm not supposed to say anything! Sorry man!" I gave him a flat look.

"Okaaaaay. Well since you refuse to say anything I'm going to guess.." I tried to think about it. Junpei was obviously very happy and was forced to hide why... Aaaah. It all made sense now. "You got laid!" I exclaimed. I saw several students looking our ways. Maybe I said that a little too loud.

"What? No!" He shouted. Though everyone was whispering around us now. I only was in this school for nearly two weeks but it was enough to know that by the end of the day a rumor about Junpei getting lucky would be common knowledge.

"Sorry?" I said to him with a sheepish smile.

The day was pretty much normal except maybe for the occasional students interacting with Junpei. He got thumbs up from the guys, and disgusting glare from the girls. I couldn't help but feel a little guilty.

* * *

Iwatodai Dorm

Once I arrived at the dorm I was told by Mitsuru to go to the command room. Today we would explain everything to Hamuko. Everyone was already there at the exception of Hamuko and it didn't take long for her to arrived. The chairman was the first to talk and what he said really pissed me off.

"Ah, there you are. I'm glad that you're okay, I wasn't sure what I'd do if anything had happened to you." I clenched my fist and hissed at him.

"Cut the crap Ikutsuki. It was your god damn fault this happened in the first place. Don't think for a second that I will not inform her of what happened that night. And you better apologize to her, for your own good." The tension in the room was heavy but Hamuko quickly put an end to it.

"It's alright Souji-kun. Yukari-chan already told me everything about what really happened." She said with a glare pointed at the chairman. She took a seat not waiting for an invitation. After a moment of silence the chairman began to talk.

"I apologize for what happened, it was indeed because of my decision that this situation occurred. I would be grateful if you give me a chance to-"

"No. I already know what you're going to ask and I stand with Souji-kun and Yukari-chan on that. I do not forgive you nor will give you another chance. Now, I'd like to know why I was called here." She said coldly. Angry Hamuko was scary. I was so used to her cheerful personality that seeing her like that came to quite a shock. Mitsuru decided to take it from here.

"Would you believe me if I say that a day consist of more than twenty four hours?"

"Yes. I've already know that for the past ten years." Ten years...Again with that number..I put that information in a corner of my mind.

"T-Ten years?" Stuttered Mitsuru to which Hamuko nodded.

"Yes. Though it was my first time seeing those creatures. You were also the first ones I encountered besides me that seemed active during 'that' time."

"That time is called the Dark Hour. A time period between one day and the next. From what our senpai told us not much is know about it..." I provided while looking at Mitsuru with narrowed eyes to tell her that I didn't believe any of it. She was quick to advert her gaze. Akihiko followed up with the explanation.

"Those creatures you saw, we call them Shadows. They only appear during the Dark Hour and attack everyone not in a coffin. It's our job to defeat them...Sounds exciting huh?"

"Akihiko! Why are you always like that! You just got hurt the other day!" Snapped Mitsuru.

"Now, Now. He does his work well." Said Shithead. "Long story short, we are the Specialized Extracurricular Execution Squad. S.E.E.S for short. On paper, we are classified as a school club. But in reality, this group is dedicated to defeating the Shadows. Mitsuru is the leader. I'm the club adviser." Adviser my ass..

"A shadow feeds on the mind of it's prey; the victims becomes a living corpse. They're responsible for most of the incidents on the news if not all of them." Explained Mitsuru.

"How do you fight them?" Hamuko asked. I stood up and summoned Izanagi's card.

"Izanagi-no-Okami!" I crushed the card summoning the god in the room. I watched in amusement as Hamuko fell from her seat in surprise. I pointed my thumb at Izanagi. "That's how. This, is a Persona." I tried to remember the explanation Igor gave me the first time I summoned it. "A Persona is a side of you that show itself when you face the world around you. You can think of it as a facade of determination you wear to face life's hardship. However, you are different from other Persona user." I dismissed Izanagi. "You're like me, something that is know as the 'Wild Card'. It's complicated to describe but if you want the short version, you, are able to summon multiple Personae." Maybe that was too much of an explanation.

"How do you know all this?" Asked a suspicious Mitsuru.

"I told you already, I've retain all my memories when it comes down to Personae and Shadows."

"Yet you don't remember anything else about your past, I cannot help but found this awfully convenient." She stated.

"Believe me when I say that I understand the feeling perfectly. I mean, from what I've seen 'till now; you guys have been experiencing the Dark Hour for quite some time yet you don't know anything about it. You developed a mean to summon your Persona without calling forth a card. Developed technology that function during the Dark Hour. This isn't something that can be done from one day to another. So I can safely assume that you've been 'active' for some years already. Also it would require fund to do that, probably your family right? The whole dorm is there for the sole purpose of investigating the Dark Hour, which further add to my belief that everything here is financed by the Kirijo group. To think that such organization would be aware of the Dark Hour for years yet didn't find anything about it. That's rather hard to believe." I explained with a glare. Hanging out with Naoto and investigating a murder case for more than a year had made me quite observant to all details around me. I changed my facial expression and started laughing. "Just kidding! Of course you wouldn't hide anything from us. Just like I wouldn't from you, isn't that right Mitsuru-_senpai_?" I asked with a sweet smile.

"..Yes.." I knew that my little speech had also give a lot to think for Yukari. Though I felt a bit guilty for Hamuko who was a little lost. After all it was a lot of information to proceed at once. Speaking of Hamuko..

"So..?" She asked quietly. Mitsuru took a metal briefcase and put it on the table. She opened it. In it was an evoker and a S.E.E.S armband.

"We want you to join us. We've prepared an evoker for you. We'd like you to lend us your strength." Hamuko seemed to think for a moment before nodding.

"Alright I'll join."

"*sigh* I was afraid you'd said no...Welcome aboard!" Said Yukari.

"Thank you so much, I'm really glad!" Exclaimed Dumbass. "Oh, I almost forgot..about you room assignments..Why don't you just stay here, in your current room? I don't know what the holdup is, but I guess it worked out in the end. *chuckle*" .Kill..

**SMASH**

Oh, now that's nostalgic. The world around me came to a stop. At the exception of Hamuko. An image of a card soon began to appear in my mind. The fool.

"_Thou art I...And I am thou...Thou hast established a new bond...Thou shalt be blessed when creating Personae of the Fool arcana..._" Greaaaat, I was currently unable to do so. I sighed as the world came back to life. We discussed a little more then all headed to our room. As I was about to take the stairs to the second floor though Hamuko called me.

"Souji-kun..I want to ask you something.." She waited for everyone to go away before continuing. "What you said at school, about your parents..Was that a lie?" She asked in a whisper. That's right. I told her about my past the other day, and with Mitsuru bringing on the issue of my 'amenesia' she must have thought I was lying.

"No, I lied to them about not remembering my past." I told her honestly. "I don't trust S.E.E.S yet. Or to be more precise, the Chairman. You're the only one who know the truth so please keep it to yourself."

"Why are you telling me that? You've only know me for days." I've wondered that myself at first, but deep down I knew the answer.

"You and I are similar. More than you can possibly imagine. I'm not just referring to the Wild Card ability or our parents...I just know that I can trust you...After all we both gave everything to save our friends as well as the world..." I whispered the last part so she wouldn't hear it.

"Alright! I won't tell anyone I promise! And thanks for trusting me!" She said, back to her cheerful self. "Good Night Souji-kun!" She waved at me and rushed to her room.

"'Night..."

* * *

"Good evening." I was woke up from my sleep by a childlike voice. I sat on my bed and looked at the origin said voice. A kid in some kind of prisoner uniform. He had short black hair and blue eyes. The world around us had a green tint. The Dark Hour. Was this person a Shadow? My eyes were useless on him, I couldn't even get what arcana he was. I decided to answer him in the most eloquent way possible.

"..The fuck?" For my defense I was dead tired. Though it seemed to made the kid laugh.

"Haha, you really are a strange one. Soon the end will come. I remembered so I thought I should tell you." I looked at him blankly. The guy appear out of nowhere. Tell me that the end was near. But I was the strange one...

"The end..?" I asked suspiciously.

"The end of everything..But to be honest, I don't really know what it is.." Was he talking about Nyx..?

"I think I know what you're talking about, and I'll stop it. I'll prevent the end." I told him seriously. He chuckled.

"I guess I made the right choice by coming here to see you. Normal people wouldn't be able to notice me, but you...You're like her. I'll be watching you. See you later." With that he vanished. Needless to say I didn't sleep at all that night.

* * *

Iwatodai Dorm 04/21/2009 (Tuesday)

_Knock. Knock._

I opened the door of my room and was greeted by Yukari and Hamuko.

"Souji-kun are you alright? You look exhausted.." Stated Yukari.

"I had a nightmare..I sure as hell hope it was a nightmare.." I mumbled.

"Ehh, you too?" Too? I saw her glanced at Hamuko. Sure enough, she was sleeping while standing up..Was she drooling? I walked up to her and start shaking her shoulders.

"Oi! Hamuko-chan, wake up."

"Five...more minutes.." She answered, still asleep. I sighed.

"What kind of nightmare was it to keep both of you up like that?" Asked Yukari.

"..I saw a kid during the Dark Hour. He appeared just like that, and he told me that the end was coming. The end of everything. Then he vanished." I didn't take note of Yukari's paling face.

"I saw him too! He even had a prisoner suit!" Said a now fully awake Hamuko. Well that at least confirm that kid was talking about her..But what was he? You can't appear and disappear just like that unless..

"**Ghost**.." We both said together.

_Thud_

Yukari was on the ground, unconscious. Was she scared of ghost? I put the information aside for future blackmail. I turned to Hamuko.

"I think I'm going to stay here for today. There's no way I'll go to school when I'm that tired. You should do the same." Add to that the fact that we could go to Tartarus any day now. We needed to be in top condition.

"..Won't Mitsuru-senpai throw a fit?" She asked. I shrugged.

"Don't worry, I'll take responsibility." I picked up Yukari who was still out cold. "Know where her room is?" I followed Hamuko and dropped Yukari in her room before going back to bed.

* * *

I woke up late in the afternoon. Yukari and Hamuko were probably still sleeping as there was no one in the lounge. I shrugged and approached the TV. I crouched in front of it and touched the screen with the tip of my finger.

_Ripple_

I sighed. What would I give to have just one of my friend with me right now..I watched the screen take back his usual shape. I turned the TV on and headed to the kitchen to make myself a snack.

"Souji-kun?" I glanced behind the fridge to find a half asleep Hamuko with bed hair. I wouldn't say it out loud but that made her look extremely cute.

"Awake too?" She nodded.

"What are you doing?"

"Sandwich, I'm hungry. Want one?" She nodded again. "I take it Yukari's still asleep?"

"_Kyaaaah_!" Or not...

I heard her rushing down the lounge. Once she was there she immediately glared at me.

"What happened? Why are we still at the dorm?" What I want to know is: Why are you only glaring at me?

"You passed out. Didn't take you for the type to be scared of ghost." I said with a smirk.

"I'm not! And that's beside the point! Mitsuru-senpai is going to kill us!"

"Calm down, I already told Hamuko-chan I'll take responsibility. Anyway, want to eat something?"

"I'm not hungry!"

_Gurgle_

"I take that as a yes." I started preparing the food while listening to Yukari's rant.

"How can you be so calm?"

"'Cause I know how to deal with people like Mitsuru...And it kinda give me a good occasion to piss her off."

"You do that on purpose?"

"Not really, but I'd hate to miss such a good opportunity. It's a lot of fun to make her go on rampage. How do you think the lounge really got destroyed?"

"No way.."

"It was my first 'execution'." I said with a chuckle.

"What did you do to tick her off like that?" Asked Hamuko.

"I..may have accused her of being a stalker madly in love with me..and I may have bring on the possibility of her taking advantage of me while I was unconscious..I mean come on! She entered the hospital room I was in without knocking like she owned the place, tried to dig inside my past using the Kirijo group, payed my fee for Gekkoukan...And now I can add the camera of the command room to the list. It was just too good to pass up!" Both of them stared at me for a moment until Yukari burst out of laughing.

"Y-You accused THE Mitsuru of being a stalker? Hahahaha! Oh my sides! How I wish I saw her head when you told her that!"

"Well, you'll probably be able to when she come back home. Now here." I handed them their Sandwich and put myself in front of the TV to eat mine. They both joined me soon after and we ended up watching an anime. That was the scene that greeted Mitsuru when she came home. The three of us eating and laughing in front of the TV.

"Welcome home Mitsuru-senpai." I said casually, my eyes still on the TV.

"..What is the meaning of this..?" Mitsuru hissed.

"Well, we were all hungry after sleeping **the** **entire day** so I made sandwiches for everyone. How was school on your end?"

"Are you mocking me?" Shouted Mitsuru.

"Alright alright I'll stop." I stood up and looked at her seriously. "The reason we didn't come to school today is simple. Hamuko and I were exhausted due to a certain event, and Yukari passed out this morning. Seeing as there were a possibility of us going to Tartarus tonight I made the decision of staying here today. There is no way I will fight Shadows with a team that can barely stay awake. This is the kind of thing that could kill all of us. I will take full responsibility for both of them." I said in full 'leader-mode'. It seemed to calm her down, somewhat.

"..I see. Very well I will drop the issue for this one time only. But if you ever decide to skip school once again..." OPENING!

"Don't worry, I know how much you hate the idea of me being away from you. Speaking of which, how are your urges coming along? Seeing as you can't spy on me from the command room anymore I figured out it must have been quite difficult for you these last few days. But do not worry for I have the perfect solution!" I took out a piece of paper that I had prepared beforehand from my pocket. "It's my number, I don't doubt you already have it with all the information you were trying to fish on me but still, here." I forcefully put the paper in her hand. "Anyways back to what I was saying, I happen to have some free time this weekend, so give me a call, I know it may seems like a difficult task given how shy you are but see it this way. This, is the first step toward recovery! No longer will you ever be Mitsuru Kirijo, the creepy stalker." I was honestly proud of me on this one. I quickly switched my Persona to that of Chie just in case and prepared my exit. I really didn't like the way Mitsuru was hyperventilating. "Now that my task is done I'm going to train a little, see ya!" And with that I leaved the lounge.

I was starting to wonder if something had gone wrong given that I was nearly on the roof and Mitsuru still had to go in crazy mode. I soon got my response in the form of..

"**I'LL KILL YOU! YOU #%^$&*!" **I let out a chuckle. Now who would have thought she had such a colorful language. I closed the door of the roof and locked it with the key. I walked casually to my sword who was laying on the ground and picked it up, giving it a few test swing. I always let my sword here as I pretty much trained every day. Something was banging on the roof door. She had finally came upstairs. I knew the door wouldn't hold her long but I sure wasn't prepared for the sight of a zanbato tearing it in half

"..Well, shit." I tighten the grip on my sword and got ready for the fight. Pissing Mitsuru off beside being extremely funny was also the closest thing I had of real fight experience. I saw her holding a blade as long as her and pointing it at me. She also had a rather frightening smile plastered on her face. One dripping with insanity. It was time to get serious. I channeled my SP through my body, ready to move at any time. "Should we start, Mitsuru-_chan_?"

I made an important decision today. I would never again call Mitsuru'name with the chan suffix. At least not until I got stronger than her. I was currently in the command room, nursing a broken nose, a black eye, and some shallow cut. My hand was on my face glowing a bright green as it was charged with a Dia spell. Yukari was laughing her ass off just besides me. Even Hamuko was mocking me.

"T-That was priceless! Hahaha! I would have never thought the always so composed Mitsuru-senpai could snap like this!" Said Yukari with tears in her eyes.

"Still, she didn't had to break my nose. It's a pain to heal with only a Dia spell." I said.

"So, do you think she'll call you this week end?" Asked Hamuko with a sly smirk.

"Yeah right. If she does I'll sing at school and I'll use the PA room to broadcast it..I could use that to take my revenge now that I think about it.." I started formulating plan in my head for one of my next attack but my musing was cut short as Akhiko and Mitsuru entered the room.

"Good you're all here, there is someone I want to introduce" Said Akihiko. "Come on, hurry up!" He seemed to be talking to someone in the hallway.

"_Hold your horses, this is freakin' heavy._" I recognized that voice immediately. "*Chuckle* What's up?"

"J-Junpei? Why are you here?" Exclaimed Yukari.

"This is Junpei Iori from class 2-F. He'll be staying here as of today." Explained Akihiko.

"He's staying here? You gotta be kidding me!"

"I bumped into him the other night. He has the potential but he just awakened to it recently. I told him about us and he agreed to help."

"You have the potential? For real?"

"He found me crying like a baby at the convenience store, surrounded by a bunch of coffins. I don't remember much but..man that's embarrassing! He said that's, you know, completely normal...in the beginning. Like, being confuse, and not remembering anything. Did you guys know that?" Junpei asked.

"Not really, I was more preoccupied with the monsters after me. Though I guess that's a normal reaction." I said

"D-Dude, what happened to your face?" Asked Junpei.

"A monster, a nasty one." I said with a smirk. Yukari and Hamuko both chuckled and Mitsuru glared at me. The usual.

"I see..But man I was shocked to find out about you guys. I had no idea. I'm glad I'm not the only one. It could get kinda lonely ya know. I bet you're stocked too right? Havin' me join..."

"Well, enough with the introductions. I think we're about ready..." Said Akihiko. That was when the S.O.B entered the room.

"Okay, everybody's here. I'd like your undivided attention. For a long time, Mitsuru and Akihiko were the only Persona-users we had. But, that number recently jumped to six. Therefore..As of tonight at 12:00 AM, I'd like to commence the exploration of Tartarus." Said Ikutsuki. If it wasn't for the fact that I wanted to go to Tartarus I would have lashed at him.

"Tartarus? What's that? Sound like toothpaste." Asked Junpei.

"Tartarus literally translate to Hell. Apparently it's the nest of the Shadows. It only appear during the Dark Hour." I told him.

"Whoa, their nest huh?"

"It's the perfect place for us to train." Added Akihiko, and I couldn't agree more.

"But senpai, what about your injuries?" Asked Yukari.

"Since Akihiko hasn't fully recover yet, he'll only come as far as the entrance." Said Mitsuru a little too happily.

"..Yeah I know."

Once everything was said I headed to my room to prepare myself. I put on my old uniform, my S.E.E.S armband, and was sure to bring on my glasses. We all followed our senpai to our destination. The school...Wait, what?

"This is it? This, is the place? Why here?" Thank you Junpei for sharing my point of view.

"Just wait a few minute, it's almost Midnight."

Just as he said, it wasn't long until the Dark Hour arrived. I watched in pure awe as our school became a gigantic tower that rose through the sky. It was certainly a change compared to the short dungeon of the other world. The ground in front of Tartarus was bathed in blood, more so than anyplace I had seen.

"This is Tartarus. The labyrinth that reveals itself during the Dark Hour." Explained Mitsuru.

"Labyrinth? What are you talking about? What happened to our school?" Asked a still panicked Junpei.

"Once the Dark Hour passes, everything return to normal."

"This is the nest you were talking about? But why? Why did our school turn into a giant tower?" Silence was his answer "You don't know either?"

"..No.." Riiight.

"Well, maybe now we'll find out." Intervened Akihiko. "Mitsuru and I have only gone in to take a peek. This will be our first time exploring it. Exciting isn't it? There has to be some sort of clue in here about the Dark Hour..."

"Akihiko, I respect your enthusiasm, but you won't be accompanying us today."

"I know, you don't have to remind me."

* * *

Tartarus

We all entered inside Tartarus. The lobby was quite wide. I noticed several things scattered around. A clock, some kind of green machine, and a velvet door. In the middle of the room was a set of stairs leading to a clock shaped door. The entrance of the labyrinth.

"First, we'll have you four get a feel for this place. Why don't you go have a look around?" Said Akihiko.

"What? By ourselves?" Shouted Yukari. I tuned out the conversation from here and advanced in front of the stairs. I put on my glasses, and switched my Persona.

"Kanzeon!" I summoned Rise's Persona and did not move as she put the Helmet on my head. It was a new experience for me. I always thought being a sensor was an easy job, how wrong I was. The sheer number of information I was receiving was overwhelming.

"What are you doing?" I heard Mitsuru asking me.

_/-Scanning Tartarus. It's my first time using a Persona for this so please don't break my concentration.-/ _I responded to them via a mental link.

"What the? He can talk into our mind?" Came the annoying voice of Junpei.

"Junpei! He just said not to disturb him!" Shouted Yukari.

I ignored their talk. I managed to gather some interesting things, like the fact that there was a barrier not to far away. And the use of the machines on the first floor. I found out about some powerful Shadows scattered between the floor. I also noted the presence of Shadows under Tartarus, and they were not to mess with at our current strength. I dismissed Kanzeon.

"Did you find something?" Asked Mitsuru. I nodded.

"Yeah. The clock here can restore our health and spiritual power in exchange of money. How the hell does this work I have no idea. The green thing in the corner is a Teleporter. I noticed some of them scattered between the floor but not all of them are like this. The usual one allow a one way ride to the lobby of Tartarus, we'll call them '_access-point_'. However on certain floor there are True 'Teleporter' like this one, who work both ways. All we need to do is to activate them. I also noticed the presence of very strong Shadows on said floor. There is also a barrier that prevent to climb Tartarus passed a certain point. Finally I noticed something that kinda scare me." I pointed a finger to the ground. "There are Shadows UNDER Tartarus. I don't know how to access this part and honestly at the moment I'm glad that's the case. Let me put it this way, strength, for Shadows and Persona-User is measured by their Spiritual Rank. Akihiko is 14, you Mitsuru are 19, and I'm 6. Those Shadows are at Rank 90 at the minimum. If one of them ever spot us, we're dead." I finished to explain.

"I see..That's rather disturbing. Still, your power is incredible. To be able to scan the structure of Tartarus like this and so fast! I myself have to use technology in addition to my Persona to get result..." She said dejectedly _._

"Don't sell yourself short. Your persona is combat-based after all. Beside it's more than enough for the moment as we can't go very high. And when you'll reach your limit, well, we'll cross that bridge when that time come." I told her.

"You don't want to assume this role?"

"More like I can't. I'm not made for this, it seems like an easy job on the paper but damn, my head is freaking hurting since I used Kanzeon. " I said to which she nodded.

"Now that I notice, why are you wearing glasses? I don't remember seeing you with them at the dorm." I took my glasses off and gave them to her.

"They're special. They allow me to see far better than what human eyesight would grant, and apparently they suppress the green tint of the Dark Hour. They're also pretty much indestructible." She put the glasses on and looked around the lobby.

"That's amazing..How did you create them?"

"I didn't, a friend gave them to me. I don't remember who thought. It was probably a member of my old team.. Still you look pretty good with glasses." I said with a smirk. I was prepared for her to start threatening me but to my utter surprise she just blushed and gave me my glasses back. Girls, a mystery really.

"Well if you two are quite finished, we'll get started." Said Akihiko. "We're going to appoint a leader, to make any necessary decisions."

"For real? One of us? Oh! Oh! Me, me, me! Pick me!" Damn I knew Junpei acted like a kid sometimes, but..

"Souji, you're in charge." I nodded to Akihiko. Being field leader would grant me a lot of liberty.

"What? Why him? He doesn't look like a leader!" Thanks for the vote of confidence.

"I tend to disagree. He has experience in fighting Shadows. And from what he told us he led a team of Persona-Users before" Mitsuru saying something in my behalf..Was the world ending?

"Seriously?"

"Alright, we'll head inside. Are you ready?" Akihiko asked me.

"Not yet." I noticed that Hamuko was in front of the Velvet door. I walked up to her and waved my hand in front of her face. She was probably still inside..

"What's up with her?" Asked Junpei. I shrugged. Hamuko came back to herself a minute later.

"Hey are you alright?" Asked Yukari.

"Yeah. I opened this door and.." Ah, the joy of explaining the Velvet Door to normal people without looking insane.

"Huh? What door?"

"I don't see any door.." Said Junpei. Hamuko then looked pleadingly at me. I almost felt sorry for her. Almost.

"Sorry, I don't see anything either. Anyway, I want everyone attention, the same for both of you Akihiko and Mitsuru as you may learn something too. For this first session in Tartarus I'd like the three of you to minimize the use of your weapons and concentrate on using your Persona. Persona skills are divided into three categories. Physical, they use your life force to activate themselves. Spiritual, they use your SP to activate themselves. And passive, skills that are active in permanence regardless of the situation. What I want you three to do is to get a good feel of your Spiritual Power and to remember what it feels like. Harnessing your SP will grant you several advantage." I summoned Izanagi's card in my hand but didn't crush it. "This, is a Persona card. This is how I summon my Persona. I channel my SP while calling forth my Persona in my mind. By the end of the month I want all of you to be able to do the same. Using an evoker is too time consuming. Furthermore it forces you to stop any physical assault." I dismissed the card only to made it appear floating in front of me. I slashed it with my sword, summoning the god. "As you can see, this method allow you to do both."

"Wait! Why do you have two Persona? This isn't the same one as before!" Exclaimed Junpei.

"I'm different from normal Persona-user. I have more than one Personae and it is the same for Hamuko. Now to continue with the explanation. Controlling your SP will also grant you the ability to boost your body past human limitation and to cast spell without the need of your Persona." I pointed a finger at a Pillar "Zio." A thin beam of electricity launched itself at the structure damaging it a little. "However doing so greatly weaken said spell. If I were to estimate, roughly 25% of it's real strength. Thankfully the drain on your SP is also diminished."

"Why would we do that then?" Scoffed Junpei.

"Good question. Shadows and Persona-User have weaknesses. You Junpei are weak to Wind based attack. Yukari to Electricity. Mitsuru to Fire. Akihiko to Ice. Once you'll summon your Persona for the first time you'll be able to see that by yourself just by looking into your mind. Back on the subject. When a weakness is exploited, not only it increased the damage received but it knock the victim out, rendering it unable to move for a moment. But the most important thing, it dramatically reduce any kind of defense the target possess. Casting spell this way is the perfect tool when you either need to test the enemy's defense, or when for whatever reason, you aren't able to summon your Persona. It is also the first step before shape manipulation." I extended my arm and started coating it with lightning. "As you can see, I'm using a Zio spell to reinforce my arm. With this I can pretty much stab through anything." I switched to Amaterasu. I raise my sword with one hand and put my other on the flat of the blade. Soon enough the weapon caught fire. "This is the kind of thing you'll be able to do when mastered." I noticed the surprised expression of Mitsuru and Akihiko. "I will make sure to teach this to everyone, so be prepared for some training outside of Tartarus." I was about to stop there but decided to add one last thing. "The Dark Hour and Tartarus. It is very likely that all of this is caused by a Shadow. And if that's the case, you can only begin to imagine how strong it must be. So train. Train as much as you can. We're not only putting our lives on the lines here, but that of all the normal people outside. We need to be prepared against anything for we cannot afford to fail! This is what it means to be a member of S.E.E.S!" I studied their reaction for a moment and was glad to see a look of determination appear on most of their faces. "Now, let us get started with the exploration of Tartarus."

**Chapter 4 End**

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**

Well, a filler chapter more than anything. Took quite some time as I did a lot of thinking about the plot. The next chapter will feature Tartarus exploration, social link and **probably** the full moon fight.

**Blazingreaper**: Thanks for the ability suggestion. It helped me decide what I would do and this will most likely be part of the next chapter.

**NightmareSyndrom**: Well you got your answer. A good place to train? Yes and no. He would be able to gain some experience but would have to be away from S.E.E.S. Add to that the fact that he could be trapped inside as he don't know where Teddie is.

Question time!

**Mitsuru/Souji**: Some may think I'm just using the scene from the previous chapter again. Well yes and no. In this story Mitsuru and Souji have pretty much opposite personality. So there will be a lot of scene where Souji will try to piss Mitsuru off. Especialy when he'll start ditching school actively.

**The reaper**: I still don't know if I'll follow with that. If I do, it will be extremely different from what you guys may ever imagine. I have his social link more or less prepared if I do but still need to work on the details and his history.

**The explanation about the shadow/ persona/ weakness and stuff**: It was both write for the story itself and the reader. To explain how this will work with my fic. Hope it wasn't too boring.

**Souji leader of S.E.E.S**: I really hesitated on that one, but in the end it seemed like the best choice. Hamuko will probably take up the role of second in command.

I thank you all for the reviews.

See you next time!


	5. Chapter 5

Disclaimer: I do not own Persona 3, P3P, Persona 4

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**Chapter 5:**

Tartarus 04/21/2009 (Tuesday)

The inside of Tartarus was pretty creepy. Green wall, Green floor, Green windows, who by the way gave a wonderful view on nothingness. Thank goodness I had my glasses to suppress all that. Too bad it didn't work with the blood.

"So, this is it huh?" Said Junpei.

"I hope I don't get lost.." Unless you run off on your own, you won't, Yukari..

_/-Can you all hear me?-/ _Came the voice of Mitsuru through our earbuds.

"We can hear you Mitsuru." I answered.

"Good. Based on your current location you can except to encounter Shadows at any minute. They shouldn't be to tough, but proceed with caution. Practice makes perfect." I took over once she was finished.

"We'll move with the following formation. Junpei to my left. Yukari to my right. Hamuko you'll cover the rear. When we engage an enemy we'll surround it using the same pattern unless I advise against it. Is that clear?"

"**Hai!**"

We then started moving. On the way we found a metal briefcase containing painkillers. Yep. That makes absolutely no sense whatsoever, but I suppose finding treasure chests in a sauna or strip club doesn't either. I spotted a Shadow crawling a little ahead of us.

"Get ready.." I whispered to them and rushed at it. I stabbed trough the black mass with my sword before it had a chance to discover any of us. A blue mask began to form on the Shadow as we surrounded it.

"Hamuko, burn it! Junpei follow up by summoning your Persona!"

The Shadow was still stunned by my attack and couldn't avoid the fireball launched by Hamuko's Orpheus. It soon became evident that said element was our enemy's weakness as it was barely moving anymore. I glanced at Junpei, his gun on his temple, his body trembling. He was afraid. I sighed mentally. The guy who designed the evoker was stupid as shit. Why a gun, seriously? It was taking too much time and the Shadow could recover at any moment now. I started shouting at him.

"What are you waiting for Junpei? Just shoot!"

"Rhaaaaa!"

_Bang!_

I watched as Junpei's Persona came to life and cleanly cut the Shadow in two different part. He was still panting and drenched in sweat.

"You alright?" I asked him to which he nodded. "Alright then, let's continue."

It wasn't long until we crossed an intersection. One path led to another corridor, the other to some stairs. After a quick message from Mitsuru telling us to stay on this floor, we started moving once again. I soon noticed another Shadow. I ran at it like the previous one but sadly was discovered before I had a chance to attack it. It separated itself into two different entities with the usual blue mask.

"Hamuko same as before! Yukari, Junpei, assist her! I'll take the other one!"

I called forth Yukiko's card and sliced it, summoning the sun goddess. The enemy was burned by an Agi spell before it could attack. I followed up with a sword strike, cutting his mask in two and killing it. I looked at the others just as they killed their own Shadow. It seemed everything was coming along nicely. Suddenly three cards appeared in front of me. I was used to this but wasn't excepting it as I couldn't use the Wild Card at the moment. Though to my surprise the cards didn't represent Personae. Two of the cards had a blue outline while the last one was red. The blue ones had each a different kanji in the middle of it. One for Fire and one for Ice. The red card had the kanji for light. I focused my eyes on the fire one as the cards turned around and started shuffling themselves.

"Souji-kun is something wrong?" I heard Hamuko asking me.

"Just a second..." I reared my right arm back, palm open, ready to catch my prize. I launched it at my intended target making the two other cards disappear. I turned it around and was glad I didn't miss.

"What the! How did you get this!" Asked Junpei. Seemed they could see it now. I decided to try something.

"Junpei.." I said earning his attention. I gave him the card. "Crush it."

"Huh? Why do you want me to do that?" Because if it backfire you'll be the one to be hit.

"Because I want to confirm something." He seemed unsure for a moment but crushed it nonetheless. I watched the card erupt in a blue fire before disappearing completely. I then looked at Junpei and couldn't help but grin at what I saw. "Now that's interesting..."

"What is? It just burned up!" I shook my head.

_/-That's amazing! Your Persona just learned how to use Agi! How did you get your hands on this Seta?-/_ Announced Mitsuru.

"R-Really?" Asked a dumbfounded Junpei.

"Yep, you would probably have learn it by yourself later on if your Persona's resistance is any indication, but it will be most useful to clean this floor. As for your question Mitsuru, it's a Wild Card ability, though this one is new to me.." Was it because this place was different? Or was it due to my new body? My eyes maybe..It could also be due to my inability to access new Personae at the moment, therefore being replaced by something else..Guess I should go to the Velvet Room later. "Let's go."

The next pack of Shadows was quickly dealt with as we now had three Personae with fire ability. I also introduced the group to the joy of the all out attack. However Yukari didn't had a chance to summon her Persona yet. Even though her SR had gone up by one she didn't had any skill besides Dia, and the Shadows of this floor didn't injure us so far. Not that I'm complaining. I noticed Hamuko staring in the distance. I was about to call her but stopped when I saw she was trying to grab something in front of her.

"So, what did you get?" I asked her.

"Secret!" She said, sticking her tongue out at me. So. Cute!

_/-Be careful! An enemy is closing in on your position!-/ _Announced Mitsuru.

We all got into our battle stance as the Shadow appeared. It immediately separated into five different monsters. Now that's tricky.

"Do not surround them, we don't have time for this! Hamuko, Junpei, take one each! Yukari! Assist me with the others and heal me if needed!"

"R-Right!" You're not really reassuring me Yukari.

Hamuko and Junpei both summoned their Persona, casting an Agi spell on two of the Shadows. Their targets chosen, I dashed at the three remaining one and set my sword on fire. I swung my blade at my closest opponent, aiming to take off his head. The Shadow tried to stop it with one of it's arm but the fire allowed me to cut through it without much resistance, it was however enough for the Shadow to step back and avoid a fatal hit on it's mask. The second Shadow came to it's help and I was forced to jump back to avoid getting skewered, an arrow planted itself into it's mask courtesy of Yukari. I quickly scanned my surrounding and noticed the third one was missing.

"Behind you!" I heard Yukari yelling at me.

I turned around as fast as I could but it wasn't enough and I was hit in the chest by the Shadow's claw. Three wide gash appeared with blood flowing out of it. A flesh wound from my point of view, I had sustain far worse injuries in the past.

"Souji!" Heal me instead of screaming Yukari! I heard the two other Shadows closing on me from behind. I was quick to react and slashed in a whirlwind motion, effectively killing the one in front of me and injuring the other two behind. I turned around once again to face my two remaining opponent, my wounds still not healed. My shirt was starting to get soaked in my blood.

"Cadenza!" Came Hamuko's voice.

_Bang! Bang!_

Two shoot? I was bathed in a white light and what appeared to be...music notes? My injuries healed immediately and I felt lighter. I recognized this as a Sukukaja spell. I smirked and started dodging each of my enemies assault until Junpei came to my side, his target probably defeated.

"Take the Shadow with one arm, the other is mine." I instructed him. I didn't wait for an answer and lunged at the Shadow with an arrow trough it's mask. I placed my sword into a reverse grip and smashed the pommel against the mask, crack began to appear but it wasn't enough. I switched to Kanji's Persona and summoned it.

"Crush him! Rokuten Maoh!" The King of Demon did as instructed and smashed the Shadow into oblivion. All the Shadows were dead. Hamuko was at Junpei's side. Probably helped him in the end.

_/- Good job everyone! I don't detect anymore Shadows on this floor. Try to find the access point and come back to the entrance.-/ _

I looked at the group, most of them were exhausted. Everyone's rank seemed to had gone up after this fight. Hamuko was 4, Junpei and Yukari 3. I noticed her downcast expression, I already had a good guess as to why she didn't summon her Persona during the fight. "Is everyone alright?" I asked them.

"Tired, but besides that I'm fine." Replied Hamuko.

"Just a bruise for me." Said Junpei holding his side with it's hand. I looked at Yukari.

"Can you heal him?" I asked her. She flinched in response. I sighed. "Yukari, you need to get over your fear. The sooner you summon your Persona, the sooner I can teach all of you how to call it without an evoker. I also need to know that you won't freeze in the middle of a fight." That was harsh but needed. She nodded and shakingly brought the barrel of the gun against her forehead. Her breath was raged, cold sweat running down her face. She kept muttering to herself for a moment until..

"Io!"

_Bang!_

Her Persona appeared behind her. It was a chained woman sitting on a bull shaped seat. Weird. Though I suppose I couldn't really talk about weird looking Persona when I had one like..Mara...I quickly suppressed that mental image. Junpei was now fully healed. Yukari dropped to her knee more because of the mental stress than real exhaustion. I walked to her and put an hand on her shoulder to gain her attention.

"Good job." I told her with a kind smile. "Can you walk?"

She tried to stand up but ended up falling shortly after. I turned to the others. "You two go on and scout ahead of us. Try to find the access point as well as any items that could be of use to us. If you find the access point inform Mitsuru, she will then contact the rest of us and provide direction." They both nodded and departed. I knelled in front of Yukari and motioned her to my back. "Hop on."

"W-What!" She yelled while blushing. I rolled my eyes at her reaction.

"You can't walk and the Dark Hour will end soon. I'd rather like to get out as soon as possible. So either your let me give you a piggyback ride, or I'll carry you bridal style, and god, that will provide me with sooo much black mail material. Plus I can already imagine what Junpei would say when he see the both o-" I didn't need to further convince her as she grabbed me and let me carry her.

"If you talk about this to anyone, I'll kill you." She warned me.

"Why are all the women in this town after my life..." I muttered.

I followed up Mitsuru's indication and soon found the access point. I activated the machine, with Yukari still on my back. We were both brought back to the lobby.

"Welcome...back?" Said Mitsuru uncertainly as she see the both of us. "What are you two doing?"

"I'm looking after my team, that's what." I said simply.

"W-Whoa are you alright?" Asked a startled Akihiko. I raised an eyebrow at him.

"Why wouldn't I?"

"Your soaked in blood!" Oh that.

"W-When did this happen? " Asked a shocked Mitsuru.

"During the last fight. I thought you could see within Tartarus, so why are you so surprised?"

"I can establish a layout of the zone and gather information on your conditions as well as that of the Shadows but I can't 'see' inside so to speak. I had no idea you were hurt to that extent." That kinda explained why she was surprised when Yukari and I arrived now that I think about it. I shrugged.

"I'm fine. I had it far worse in the past. I have been slashed, shoot, impaled, burned, electrocuted, frozen, poisoned, crushed and I pass the best ones. So something like that isn't really much." Everyone was staring at me in shock. "It's impossible to fight against Shadows and except to get out of it without injuries. But as long as I'll be here I will make sure nothing excessive happen to any of you. You made me your leader therefore your safety is my first priority. If this means I have to take the blow then so be it. However I have no intention to die just yet, so you can except me to work you into the grounds in the near future." I told them with a bright smile that held much promises of pain.

**SMASH**

**Fool: Rank 2**

"_Thou art I... And I am thou..."_

"_Thou shalt have our blessing when thou choosest to create a Persona of the Fool Arcana..."_

Maybe I should make speeches more often. As the world came back to life Mitsuru addressed me.

"Well it seems like we made the right choice... I must admit I was quite skeptical in the beginning, but you do take you role very seriously. It is a welcome change compared to how you act outside of Tartarus." Oh?

"Does this mean you fell in love with me once again?" I asked her with a straight face.

"..Forget I said anything." She said, shaking her head while I chuckled.

We all got out of Tartarus and headed home. Yukari was still on my back and was strangely quiet.

"You alright?" I asked her.

"..Yeah, it's just..I'm sorry for what happened back there..Everyone was able to fight without problem while I was.." So that's what bothering her.

"Don't worry about that. You'll do better next time. And it's not like I'm really hurt or anything. But now that I think about it.." I turned my head toward Hamuko. "What did you use to heal me? It was both a healing and Sukukaja spell. I've never seen anything like that."

"It was Cadenza. I tried to summon two Personae at the same time, and it just kinda happened. With it I can heal all of our group and increase their speed." She said with her ever so present smile. I stopped walking for a moment to process what she said. Using two Personae to create a whole new skill...Why didn't I think of that before?

"You're a genius.." That or I'm an idiot. She blushed at the praise. I resumed walking.

"So, what are we going to do about this?" Asked Junpei. I glanced at him and saw what he was talking about. He was carrying a briefcase.

"Oh? What's in it?" I asked, curious. It was Mitsuru who answered me.

"Money. 5000¥ to be more precise. But to be honest I don't know what to do with it. Do you have a solution?"

"Well, I was the one handling the money with my old team. I would act as a bank of sort. If anyone needed money to buy a weapon or whatever that is Persona or Shadow related they would put up a request and based on our current fund I would either accept or refuse." And I sure hope my money is still in the Velvet Room. Seeing as we were under the police's suspicion back in Inaba it would have been foolish to open an account with so much money. What kind of teenager possess more than 20 million yen. In the end Igor agreed to let me store all of it in the Velvet Room. "If you want me to do the same with S.E.E.S., I have no problem with it but I'd rather everyone to agree to it."

"It does seems like a good idea." Replied Mitsuru.

"I agree." Said Akihiko.

"Same here." Hamuko.

"Oh man, I thought we would share it." Said a dejected Junpei.

"Your thought on the subject Yukari-chan?" I asked her but didn't get any response. I shifted my head a little to look at her. She was asleep, her head resting on my shoulder. "Didn't knew my back was that comfortable." I said with a low chuckle. " Alright I'll handle the money then."

_Click_

I looked in direction of the noise only to find Junpei taking a photo of Yukari and I with his phone.

"Haha! This is just perfect! Wait until I show this to everyone!" Exclaimed Junpei while cracking madly.

I glared at him and channeled as much SP as I could through my eyes. Both of them were shining an even more bright yellow than usual. "What was that about showing this to everyone? Surely I misheard you, right?"

"J-Just kidding!" He said while waving his hand in surrender. I'm starting to love this new body.

"Send me a copy and I'll overlook this. And don't look at me like that, black mail material is still black mail material after all."

The rest of the walk home was pretty calm. Yukari was still sleeping when we arrived at the dorm so I dropped her in her room before going to my own bed. My last thought before my consciousness faded was to wonder if I should ditch tomorrow.

* * *

Iwatodai Dorm 04/22/2009 (Wednesday)

_Knock. Knock_

So...Tired..

_**Knock. Knock.**_

"_Souji-kun wake up!"_

I barely registered the voice coming from behind the door.

"Need..more..sleep.." I muttered, hiding my head under my pillow to block the sound.

_**SLAM SLAM SLAM!**_

"..I'm going to kill whoever is behind that door.." I stood up grudgingly and headed to the door. "What?" I yelled, opening the door. Yukari and Hamuko were both here. And they were..Blushing?

"Kyaaah!" Yukari yelled before..

**Slap!**

"What the hell?" I shouted at her but she was already gone. I looked at Hamuko who was adverting her gaze.

"Maybe you should dress up?" She said. I looked down at myself. I was wearing a shirt and was still in my boxer. That's it? I was slapped because of that?

"Just a minute." I closed the door and dressed up while muttering curse at Yukari. Once I was ready I grabbed my bag and headed out. Hamuko and I both found out Yukari waiting for us downstairs. "Did you have to slap me, seriously? I said with a glare.

"Sh-Shut up! Let's go, we're going to be late!" I need my revenge..

"Man, you sure were cuter yesterday, when you were sleeping on my back.."

"What?"

"You know it's the second time I have to bring you to your room while you're asleep. Next time, do try to invite me on your own." I said with a wink. I then laughed loudly when I saw her face completely red.

* * *

School Auditorium

You gotta love morning assembly. Always there to help you catch some zzz's.

"..That conclude the main portion of today's assembly. Next, we'll hear a word from the Student Council. Please welcome the new President, Mitsuru Kirijo from class 3-D." I perked up at the name.

"So, she did get elected. Well..I guess she IS the most popular girl in school." Do I sense jealousy?

"You can say that again. There's like some kind of aura around her.." Said Junpei. "Besides, the school is own by the Kirijo group, right?"

The conversation stopped as Mitsuru walked on the podium.

"As I begin my term as Student Council President, I'd like to share with you my vision for this coming year. It is my firm belief, that each of us must accept the responsibility of bettering our school. However, change cannot occur without sustained effort and an unprecedented level of commitment. That, is why we must restructure our daily lives, to accommodate this lofty goal. I'd like each of you to dig deeply into your well of motivation, and re-evaluate your convictions..To imagine a bold new future without losing sight of the realities around you. That is the key. I am certain that many of you have your own visions of the future..For us to reap the full benefits of our education, your participation, ideas and enthusiasm are essential. Thank you." ..Wow.

"Dang...That was freakin' amazing..Hey, did you understand what she was talking about?" Junpei asked me.

"Well, if I were to translate her speech in simple words it would be: Take your school life seriously or I'll execute you. That is all." Yukari snorted in amusement, Junpei looked at me with fear and Hamuko...was listening to her music.

* * *

I left the classroom as soon as the final period was over with both Hamuko and Junpei. On the way out we were put face to face with an horrific sight. For before us was the bane of humanity: Fan-girls.

"Oh, look! It's Akihiko-senpai!" Fan-girl#1 yelled.

"Wait for us!" Fan-girl#2.

All of the girls surrounded Akihiko.

"Man, would you look at that? I hear they are always swarming Akihiko-senpai like that. I know he's the captain of the boxing team but..I mean come on! You don't even see girl like that on TV! I wonder where they are going.." Said Junpei.

"I feel sorry for him. I still remember when I used to have my own Fan-girls." I shuddered at the thought.

"Thought you had amnesia."

"There are things you cannot forget. Ever."

"Hey!" Akihiko called to us. "Are you guys free this afternoon?"

"Huh? Who, us? I..guess so..?" Answered Junpei uncertainly.

"I want the three of you to meet me at Paulownia Mall. You know where it is, right? I'll be at the police station. See ya there."

"Th-The police station? Uh, are your friends gonna come along, too?" NO!

"Who these girls? I don't even know their names. They talk so much they give me a headache. Anyway I'm gonna head out. Don't keep me waiting.."

"Awww, why can't he be more friendly?" Asked Fan-girl#1 to no one in particular.

"Man, how can he not know their names? I mean, seriously! Just look at them! Well, I guess we gotta go..Sheesh, talk about putting a damper on a guy's afternoon."

We then leaved for the Mall. It didn't took us long to reach the police station. Akihiko seemed to be talking with a police officer.

"Thank you, Sir." Said Akihiko before he took notice of us. "Oh, theses are the guys I was talking about earlier." The police officer just stared at us not saying anything. "This is Officer Kurosawa. He helps keep our squad well-equipped." So this is the place our weapons come from? "And, this is from Ikutsuki-san." He said, while taking out some money.

"Really? Sweet!" Junpei exclaimed happily. Until he saw how much we were given. 2.500¥ each. Which make a total of 7.500¥. That kinda sucks.

"Officer Kurosawa has connections. But, these things still cost money."

"Of course they do. Nothing in life is free." Kurosawa said roughly.

"I realize that. Well, I'll see you later. Thanks again."

Once Akihiko was gone Kurosawa addressed us.

"I've been informed about you three. My job is to maintain peace in this city, regardless of the circumstances. I'm just an ordinary police officer, but it doesn't take a genius to know something strange is going on here. I'm only doing what I think is right." He said, then led the three of us to a room at the back of the station. In this room, weapons. Lots of it. Ranging from knife to things like a whip. I tried channeling my SP through some and was surprised that a few of them did possess some abilities. I thought this was something only old man Daidara could do since his weapons were made of...Shadows remain...Could it be possible? I turned to my group.

"Alright you two, if you find a weapon that interest you, bring it to me. Some of these weapons possess proprieties that can only be seen by channeling SP through it. Since you can't do it yet I'll do it for you. And do not worry about the price I'll pay for it if you don't have enough." The both of them were surprised by that.

"You're sure Souji-kun?" Hamuko asked me to which I nodded.

"Yeah, don't worry about it. Besides there is also the 5.000¥ from yesterday to take in consideration." I reassured her. As they returned to their search I tried to find some kind of armor for the team. I soon spotted the perfect one. A sleeveless, chain mail shirt. Enough to protect the body without impairing one's movement. I took four of them and put them aside for the moment. I then tried to look for a better sword. I found one in the form of a two handed broadsword that slightly increased the user's strength. I also took a bow with an increase of agility for Yukari. Finally, my eyes caught something that reminded me of one of my old teammate. A luger. I wasn't really one for firearm but it would certainly increase my array of skill. After some deliberation I decided to take it. I needed to improve my fighting skill, and mastering another weapon than my sword would prove to be the first step in that direction. I was soon called by my teammates to analyze their weapons. Junpei had found a katana that could make his enemies go into a panicked state, while Hamuko took a naginata with the capacity to sometime bypass the enemy's defense, as if their weakness had been exploited. I brought all the items to Kurosawa who got quite the shock at how much of them I took. He wasn't the only one.

"D-Dude! There's no way you can afford all that!" I ignored Junpei outburst.

"How much?" I asked looking straight at Kurosawa.

"4.200¥ for each weapons and 3.000¥ for each armors. Which make a total of 33.000¥."

I took out my wallet and handed him said amount of money.

"Seeing as we can't really carry all this in the middle of the town am I to assume you're handling that part?" He nodded at my question.

"I'll deliver it to the dorm by tonight." I nodded.

"Alright, we'll be going then. Thanks for the help."

Once we were out..

"How the hell do you have so much money?" Demanded Junpei. You think he would at least be thankful..

"Junpei! You should thank him instead of yelling like that!" Ah Hamuko, you always understand me.

"R-Right, sorry about that." I sighed

"It's alright. And if you must know killing Shadows tend to pay quite well."

"T-That's right you've been fighting Shadows before, right?"

"Yeah.." I sighed again, reminiscing the past. How many time now did I just want to throw all of this behind and take the first train back to Inaba. But what would that accomplish? I still had no precise idea as to how bring my friends memory back and Teddie's condition was unknown..There were also the part about my family. Not my so called parents, but uncle Dojima and Nanako...Through my time in Inaba, Dojima pretty much became my father figure. As for Nanako, even though we weren't brother and sister in blood, we always considered ourselves as such. Right, what kind of pathetic brother I turned out to be. I couldn't protect her when she was kidnapped, and it nearly cost her life. And because of my failure to stop Izanami..

"Souji!" I snapped back to attention at the loud voice of Hamuko.

"Huh?" I managed to say.

"Dude, you were totally spacing out." Explained Junpei.

"Sorry about that. I was just thinking...I'm going back to the dorm, later.." I needed to be alone for the moment.

* * *

Iwatodai Dorm

"Welcome back." Greeted Mitsuru. I nodded at her in response. I noticed Akihiko and Jackass were also there.

"Mitsuru-senpai, Kurosawa-san should come later on with some weapons and armors. Would you mind taking care of that?"

"I don't mind." She answered.

"Also, no Tartarus tonight. Two days in a row would be too much for the rest of the group. We'll probably go tomorrow. And finally, please make sure none of them plan anything for this Saturday."

"Why's that?" She asked, curious.

"I'm going to train each of you for the whole day. You'll have the whole Sunday to rest and on Monday we'll be back to Tartarus. I'm sorry to let you handle all of this but I've barely slept in the last few days and I'm reaching my limit." That and I just wanted to be alone.

"It no trouble. I'll make sure to pass the message. Now go rest." I thanked her and went to bed immediately.

* * *

Iwatodai Dorm 04/23/2009 (Thursday)

I woke up early in the morning. A full night of sleep did wonder to clear up my mind. I had a little more than two hours before I needed to go to school. I dressed up and headed to the kitchen downstairs. No one was awake yet. Seeing as I had some time on my hand I decided to prepare some food to eat at lunch. It was a little over an hour before I was done. I put the bento in my bag and leaved for school.

As I was about to enter the school grounds, I was called by a guy I never saw before.

"Hey! You're Souji, right?" The guy asked me. He was rather plain looking and had short brown hair.

"Yeah, what of it?"

"Man, I knew it! I heard from Junpei that you're pretty close with Yukari-san..What's up with that?" Note to self: Kill Junpei. Though I have to wonder what's up with this guy? He didn't even introduce himself, yet he ask me something like this out of the blue?

"We're just friend." I said, hoping he would just leave me the fuck alone.

"Well, I guess it doesn't matter anyway. I'm looking for someone with a little more experience anyway." Okayyy. "By the way, I'm Kenji Tomochika." FINALLY, a name!

We did some small talk on our way to class. Turned out he was a nice guy in the end. Though, he seemed to always talk about girl. We both agreed to meet up after school to get some ramen. I decided to take a short nap as class wouldn't start for a good twenty minutes.

"Souji-kun!"

Forget the nap. I looked at the one who called me. Hamuko. And Yukari was with her.

"Yo." I greeted them while waving one hand lazily.

"You could have waited for us, you know." Said Yukari with a sigh.

"Sorry, my bad. I woke up early for once and everyone was still asleep. I left after I was done preparing my lunch."

"Lunch?" Asked Hamuko.

"Yeah, what about it?"

"Well, seeing as you kinda ditched the both of us, the least you could do would be to share." She said with a smirk. I shrugged.

"Sure, I don't mind. Don't except much though."

* * *

School Rooftop

The three of us were on the roof. We were currently eating the curry I had made this morning. How did they manage to get two extra set of chopsticks will remain a mystery though.

"Wow that's good!" Exclaimed Hamuko.

"She's right." Confirmed Yukari. The two of them had already ate more than half of my lunch. I sighed. They weren't much people on the roof besides us. However some of the guy here were openly glaring at me. "So, does any of you plan to join a sports club? I've heard they should accept new members by tomorrow."

"What club exactly?" Asked Hamuko. I was curious about that too.

"Volleyball and tennis for the girls. Kendo, Track and Swimming for the guys." Not really interesting. I didn't need kendo as my sword technique was good enough. Track and swimming would be fine for conditioning but it may take too much of my free time..

"Go-home club. I need free time to train and make sure I'm ready for the Shadows." I told them.

"Your starting to sound like Akihiko-senpai." Yukari pointed. "Though, I do understand you. I didn't really take this situation seriously enough until the 'incident'." I nodded at that.

"So, Hamuko-chan? What will you join?" Please say volleyball!

"Probably the tennis club." Dammit!

We then left the roof to return to our class, but not before the girls made me promise I would cook for them again. Though when we were back in class..

"Huh? You three were together?" Junpei asked me. I kinda felt bad for him..Until I remembered what Kenji told me.

"Yeah, we were eating on the roof."

"What? Why didn't you invite me?"

"Well I was planning to, until I learned that a certain someone was blabbing around about me and Yukari-chan being quite close.." I said to him, making sure none of the girls heard it.

"On second thought, cafeteria was just fine."

* * *

Hagakure Ramen

Ah, Hagakure. The ramen here was damn good.

"Whew! Now that's what I'm talking about!" Said Kenji, between mouthful of ramen. "I bet they put a secret ingredient in it, something no other ramen shop uses. It's probably some sort of secret spice...Oh sorry, I get all geeked up when I eat here." I was already finished with my first bowl and ordered a second.

"I agree with you. It's been a long time since I came here and the food is still as awesome." I looked up the counter and noticed Rise's autograph wasn't there yet. Maybe I'll meet one of them sooner than I thought..

"You do? Really? I mean, you can appreciate the subtle yet distinct favor of the soup?" Dude, I'm currently eating my third bowl... "Wow, you don't look like the type of guy I'd normally hang out with..But I guess looks aren't everything. By the way, I heard you were having lunch with Yukari-san today, I though you were just friend?" Again with that?

"We are. Besides your information is partially wrong. I was eating with both Yukari-chan and Hamuko-chan." I ordered a fourth bowl. Kenji wasn't talking anymore, I glanced at him and found him looking at me with wide eyes.

"Two girls at the same time?" I rolled my eyes.

"You make it sound like I'm dating them. We're good friend, is all."

"Not your type?"

"..Didn't thought about that to be honest. I mean, sure they are good looking and are nice, personality wise. But I had so much to take care of since I arrived in this city, getting a girlfriend is not really my priority." Here comes the fifth!

"Hmm, I see." He was finished with his food. He put some money on the counter. " Hey, let's hang out after school again sometime. We'll get some food and I'll tell you about my secret plan. Wait 'til you hear it dude. You're gonna flip!" I nodded at him.

"Sure, I'd like that."

Kenji leaved soon after, something about a TV show tonight. As for me...

"Another bowl please!" Something was definitely wrong with my body. Well, not really wrong, strange would be a better term. I was literally eating my weight in noodle, yet I was feeling great.

"Two Hagakure bowl please!" I recognized that voice.

"Junpei?" I glanced behind me. Sure enough, he was here along with Hamuko. Time for some fun. "Ah, a date I see. Don't mind me I'm just eating. I didn't see anything."

"It's not like that!" Hamuko shouted at me immediately. Man, she was fast to deny.

"You're alone?" Junpei asked me.

"Was with Kenji. He left not too long ago. I'll leave after I'm done with this bowl." I still had room for more but I needed to slow down on my expense.

"Oh, alright."

It didn't took me long to finish. I put the money on the counter and prepared to leave.

"D-Dude didn't you put to much money?" Junpei asked me.

"Nah, I ate ten bowls of ramen. It's the right amount." I loved the look on their face. "Well, I'm leaving. Have fun with your date and remember, don't do anything I wouldn't do. Later!" I then left the restaurant. I chuckled as I heard Hamuko's yelling of _"It's not a date!"._

_

* * *

_

Tartarus

The training in Tartarus was going smoothly. We only had encountered two different type of Shadow so far. With their weakness pinpointed and our new weapons, going through them wasn't a problem. I also made an incredible discovery. I really don't know how to aim. The only time I did managed to shot something, was when a Shadow was a point blank range. We kept traveling between the second and fourth floor, going back to the lobby only to get healed, thanks to the clock. I refused to go to the fifth floor as Mitsuru informed us about a strong presence being there. Sure, we could have gone up just to activate the teleporter, but the risk of an ambush was still present.

During our exploration I also managed to find out more about those new cards, from last time. The blue cards or the skill cards as we now call them, allow a Persona to learn a new spell. However we soon found out that their power was limited. For example Junpei's Persona couldn't learn any elemental spell besides the fire one. Same for Yukari and her own element. Only a Wild Card would be able to exploit their full potential. As for the red card, they were containing gems. Not normal gems of course. They were each containing a spell, that could be used at any moment. However it was a one time thing. Apparently I wasn't the only one able to see different cards. After a discussion with Hamuko I learned that on addition with the Persona, she was able to see cards of the minor Arcana. The cup provided us with some healing, the sword granted us a weapon, and the wand allowed us to increase our rank much more easily. My favorite though was the coin. Money seemed to come much easier than in the TV world thanks to that.

I glanced at the group. Hamuko was at Rank 6, Junpei and Yukari were at 5. As for me I was currently at Rank 7. We had done enough for the day.

"Alright guys we're going home." I announced.

"Uh? Why can't we go kill the big one before?" Junpei asked me.

"That would be taking unnecessary risk. We just went through a long session of hunting and some of us are actually tired. Besides, the Dark Hour is nearly over. I doubt you want to stay in this tower when it disappear, right? We'll come back here on Monday and at full strength."

_/- Seta is right. There is only 10 minutes left before the end of the Dark Hour. I'll be waiting for you. -/ _

And with that, we headed home.

* * *

Classroom 04/24/2009 (Friday)

Class was over for the day. However I couldn't leave yet. No, I had something important to do.

"Hey, Junpei. Are you going to join a club?" I asked him

"Me? Naaah!" He answered with his usual smirk.

"You should. I mean, as Persona-User, you are bound to have exceptional physical ability." I noticed I had his complete attention. "Take the kendo club for example. If you join not only you would learn how to use a sword to the perfection but you would become just like Akihiko-senpai. Just imagine the picture. Junpei Iori, rising star of the Kendo team, challenged by all, defeated by none! Though you'll have to do with the fan-girl, that's the only downside." Checkmate.

"Y-You know, maybe you're right. I'm going to see if they still accept members! See ya!" I never knew he could run that fast. Well, as long as he stop using a sword like a baseball bat.

"I can't believe you managed to manipulate Stupei so easily." I turned my head and looked at Yukari.

"That obvious?"

"Kinda yeah. Well, I gotta go to the archery club. I'll see you later."

"Wait, I have a favor to ask you. You think I could borrow a target from the archery club for the dorm?"

"What do you want to do with this?"

"I need to improve my aim. And I can't really use my other weapon in daylight." I said, referring to my gun. "So I was thinking of using a bow for training." She seemed to think for a moment.

"Well, I guess I can arrange something. Come with me."

* * *

Iwatodai Dorm: Rooftop

I had finished to set up the target Yukari gave me. It was pretty worn out but I would do the job nicely. I quickly headed downstairs to pick up her old bow out of our armory..Or, closet behind the entry counter. Armory does sound better though. I then walked back to the roof. I positioned myself at a good distance from the target. I slowly took out a arrow of the quiver attached to my back. I took aim. I let out a deep breath to calm my trembling hands and when I was finally ready..

_Swish!_

The arrow was flying at full speed toward the target. I let out a small smile, proud of my performance. Until I saw the arrow pass far away from the target. In fact it was now headed off the roof and down in the street.

_Thunk!_

I heard an alarm go off and ran at the edge of the roof to see where my arrow was. I quickly found it. Embedded in a car..

"..Maybe I should put the target against a wall, just in case.."

I trained with my aim for an hour after this. It was slowly improving, but still wasn't enough to be of use in a fight. I then switched to Persona training. More importantly, fusion spell. Hamuko said that she just tried to summon two Personae at the same time and it happen on it's own. I had already did that in the past, but only with the intent to use two distinct attack for each Personae. Maybe that was why nothing like this happened before. Well, only one way to find out. I summoned a different card in each of my hand. I closed my eyes, my mind solely focused on both of my Personae. I tried to imagine their power merge with one another.

"Susano-o and Amaterasu.." I whispered their names while crushing their cards. I felt a surge of power coursing through my body. It was like anything I had ever felt before. My eyes snapped open. **"SOLAR FLARE!"** As I spoke those words, all the SP in my body exploded. Blue wave of energy flew around me, gathering to create an orb of fire. It was levitating above the ground. It wasn't long until it started pulsing. The light coming from the fire was so intense that I was forced to squint my eyes to see anything. The orb was becoming unstable. Even though I knew that, I wasn't worried. Deep inside myself I knew it wouldn't harm me.

**BOOM!**

As the orb finally exploded, it created a mini tornado of fire at the place it previously stood. I was caught in the middle of it, but remained unhurt. The fire started to calm down. I fell to my knees in exhaustion. This spell was taking too much SP out of me. It was to be excepted. I lay down on my back to catch my breath. That was when the door to the roof slammed open. I heard someone running to me.

"Seta? What happened here? Are you alright?" Of all people why did it have to be Mitsuru.

"No...Though if you give me a hug I'm sure I'll feel better.." I got a kick to my ribs.

* * *

Iwatodai Dorm: Lounge

"I swear, you are worse than Akihiko sometime."

"Come on, I'm not THAT bad." I retorted, as I _sprawled out on one of the __couches._

"You two realize I'm just here, right?" I turned my head toward Akihiko.

"**You're point is?" **Mitsuru and I asked at the same time.

He left without saying a word. Maybe that was too mean..

"Maybe I should just forbid you from going to the roof." Mitsuru said.

"I'm doing this for the team you know. You have no idea what kind of monster will appear next time. So what if I hurt myself a little? At least I'll be prepared for it and no one else will be hurt, or worse.." It was at this moment that Yukari and Hamuko came back home. "Hey!" I waved tiredly at them from the couch.

"Are you alright Souji-kun?" Hamuko asked me with concern.

"Yeah, I overdid it with the training, that's all." She nodded at my answer. "Though on the good side, I managed to cast a Fusion Spell. I just need to find a way to control the amount of SP I put in it.." Was it even possible? I closed my eyes, too tired to think about this for the moment. And before I knew it I fell asleep.

* * *

**Chapter 5 End**

Oh my god! A chapter! I'm sorry for the wait, but I have an excuse for it!

First of all some of you may notice that the end of this chapter seems a little abrupt. It is because when I wrote it I realized I had already completed my quota of Words/characters by chapter, but I had only wrote about 3 days in the story compared to the whole month I wanted to do. So, I decided to cut the story at this point, the next chapter is already halfway done though, and **I hope** to release it within the week.

As for the time it took to write, it's not because of my laziness. As I said before I'm french, so I often need to verify if I wrote in correct english. If you do see some grammar mistake in the story, do not hesitate to point it. I will learn from it(I hope.)

Last of all: Thanks for the reviews, it really motivate me to write.

**Deidara'sgirl19:** 1: No, it doesn't mean Shinjiro will die though. 2: Definitely yes. I can't say much without spoiling but we will see them soon enough.

**Blazingreaper:** Sorry that this chapter didn't feature Souji's new ability.(Well, the fact that he can see new cards is partially related to it.) I do hope to include it in the next chapter though.

**XXShikigamiXx: **Corrected. Thank you!

Question time!

**Yukari/Souji:** I reassure some of you it's still a Hamuko/Souji. However Yukari and Souji will be quite close in this story.

**Kenji Tomochika:** No social link? Intended.

**Money in the Velvet Room:** It's not something I decided to add as a last minute thought. 20 million may be a lot but Souji will have a good use for it!

It's all for the moment, I'm going back to write the rest of the next chapter. See ya!


	6. Chapter 6

Disclaimer: I do not own Persona 3, P3P, Persona 4

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**Chapter 6:**

Iwatodai Dorm: Rooftop 04/25/2009 (Saturday)

It was past lunch and school was over for the day. Every member of S.E.E.S. was currently on the roof and was waiting for my instructions. Why couldn't they summon their Personae without an evoker. This question has been plaguing my mind ever since I was introduced to the device. And now I finally understood the reasons. From the moment a person was able to access the Dark Hour, they were deemed able to summon a Persona. This line of thinking was wrong. It only meant that it was in the process of awakening. They still had to face their Shadows. Their true selves. Hence the need of the evoker. It was however impossible to do so right now as I couldn't take them to the TV world. So I had to do the next best thing. I looked at each and every one of them before speaking.

"What are you fighting for? I want each of you to ask yourselves that question. Is it for others? For yourself? Because you enjoy the thrill of battle? Or for another reason entirely? Before summoning your Persona without the need of an evoker, you need to face yourself, so to speak." I stopped for a moment to let my words sink in. "This is why I ask you this question. As long as you don't know the answer, I cannot teach you anything. A Persona is a facet of your personality. You will never be able to summon it on your own if you keep lying to yourselves. If you are sure of the reasons for which your are fighting, then step right up. However, if you do that and fail to summon your Persona, consider that I'm done with you. I refuse to waste my time with people who can't accept who they really are." My words were hard but if I wanted to obtain any result it was the only option. Some of them were glaring at me. It was not really surprising.

"What make you think that you know us better than we do?" Mitsuru snarled at me. I guess I had to make an example.

"You feel responsible for what happened don't you?"

"W-What are you talking about?" She stuttered.

"It was not your fault, yet you chose to take on this burden willingly. Just so you could redeem yourself." She was looking at me with wide eyes, not saying anything.

"What are you doing?" Akihiko asked me with a glare.

"Proving my point. As I said before, a Persona is a facet of your personality. In Greek mythology, Penthesilea was know as the amazonian queen. She killed her sister Hippolyta by accident. To make amend, Penthesilea joined the Trojan war. Sounds familiar doesn't it? While I have no doubts that your circumstances are different, your reaction also tell me that I wasn't totally wrong about your motives. Each of your Personae posses it's own history, and all of them relate to your own in some way. However Mitsuru you're wrong with what you said. I don't assume I know any of you better than you do. And that's precisely what I'm trying to make you understand. You are the only one to know who you really are." I walked to the door. "Think about everything I said and when you think you're ready come and get me. You are free to do whatever you want for the rest of the day." And with that I left the roof.

* * *

Iwatodai Dorm: Lounge

It's been several hours since that talk on the roof and I was bored. I had thought I would train the others the whole day but with what I learned about the evoker it wasn't possible. And right now I found myself with nothing to do. I sighed and let my forehead hit the table I was sitting at.

"Souji-kun?" I glanced at the one who called me. Hamuko. "What are you doing?"

"Nothing, I'm just bored out of my mind." I told her.

"Hmm, well I heard there was a new bookstore opening at the strip mall today. Want to go together?" Well, it would certainly beat staying here and doing nothing..

"Sure." I nodded.

We were halfway toward our destination when I decided to ask Hamuko something.

"Aren't you angry at me? I mean, with what I said on the roof and all. I'm pretty sure even Yukari-chan is giving me the cold shoulder." She seemed to think for a moment before answering me.

"I was at first. But I also realized that you did this to help us. So I guess I can forgive you." I was glad at least one of them understood my position.

"Thanks, and sorry. It's true I did this because I wanted everyone to clearly understand the whole situation but maybe I should have do it with a little more tact."

"Well, if you really want to apologize, I guess you could treat me to some ramen after we are done with the bookstore." She said with a big smile. I chuckled.

"Alright I'll do it."

* * *

Bookworms

Well, for a grand reopening it was pretty empty. Not ten seconds after we entered an elderly man walked to us.

"Welcome! What would you like today? We got fresh mackerel..!" Alright, I know why it's empty now. We were saved from further conversation by a woman who if I were to guess was this man's wife.

"Sorry, as you can see we don't sell fish here." She explained. You could have fooled me.

"You're both students aren't you? You must be from Gekkoukan high right? That means you've probably seen the persimmon tree there..."

"I didn't" Said Hamuko.

"Are you serious? You don't know what I'm talking about? Not a day goes by that we don't think about that tree. It was planted right beside a walkway in a courtyard at the school." I think I saw it while I was following Yukari to the archery club.

"I'm sorry, he's rambling on like an old man. Just ignore him.." Said the old lady.

As soon as we leaved the bookstore Hamuko turned toward me.

"We're going to school."

"Huh?"

"I want to see that tree. Besides, we could bring a leaf for the both of them. I'm sure it will make them happy!" She exclaimed with a big smile. Hamuko is a much better person than I am. I returned her smile.

"Sure, I think I know where it is. Let's go."

It took us a little over an hour to go to school and get back to the bookstore. The old man was quick to notice us.

"Welcome to bookworms. How many guests? Smoking or Non-smoking?" Thankfully he stopped there as he noticed the leaf in Hamuko's hand. "Excuse me, but may I see that leaf in your hand?" She gave him the leaf. "Oh! This is a leaf from that persimmon tree? It must have grown quite a bit to produce such splendid leaves...Wait, you came here earlier today. Did you both come back just to show us this?"

"Yes we did." Hamuko answered.

"I knew it! I knew right from the start that you were a kind young couple!" ...WHAT? Hamuko was completely red. And it was probably the same for me as I could feel my cheeks heating up.

"W-We're not really together.." I stuttered.

"Ohoh, you don't have to hide it!" Damn old man! "I've been meaning to go see that tree for a while now, but I'm not sure if these stumpy old legs will make it that far...That wasn't meant to be a pun. You know, 'stumpy', 'tree stump'. Catch my drift?" Please not another Teddie. I don't think I could...bear it..

"Very clever, dear." Said the old lady from before, as she walked toward us.

"Allow me to introduce my wife Mitsuko. I'm Bunkichi. If you don't mind would you tell us your names?"

"Hamuko Arisato.." She introduced herself shyly. Her face was still a bit red.

"Souji Seta." I bowed as I introduced myself.

"Hmm, then we'll call you Hamuko-chan and Souji-chan from now on." Souji...Chan?

**SMASH**

**Hierophant: Rank 1**

"_Thou art I... And I am thou..."_

"_Thou hast established a new bond..."_

"_Thou shalt have our blessing when thou choosest to create a Persona of the Hierophant Arcana..."_

After leaving the store with the promise to come back..

"Well, shall we go get our ramen...Souji-_chan_?" She asked, barely holding in her laughter. No one make fun of me. Only I, can make fun of others!

"Of course, what kind of _boyfriend_ would I be if I were to let my cute little _girlfriend_ with an empty stomach." That shut her up immediately.

"B-Baka! Don't say things like that!" She yelled at me, blushing all the while. "It's a tie?" She asked, after a moment

"It's a tie." I nodded.

* * *

Hagakure Ramen

"..How can you eat so much?" Hamuko asked me, as I was given my fourth bowl.

"I don't know but I sure ain't complaining. I can eat whatever I damn well want and that without restrictions. I'm not even gaining any weight! How awesome is that?" I heard her mumbling something that strangely sounded like _"Lucky bastard"._

"Souji-kun, can I ask you something?" I glanced at her and noticed her serious expression. I nodded at her to continue. "How did you become a Persona-user?" I honestly wasn't prepared for that...Should I tell her? I suppose I could, as long as I didn't go too much into the details.

"You remember what I told you about my parents, right?" She nodded. "Well, because of their job, I was once more forced to move to a new place. However this time, I had to move in with my Uncle and my little cousin. It was in the town of Inaba. It's in the countryside. I had always lived in the city before that, so it was a pretty brutal change. I had thought the year I would have to pass in Inaba would be one of the most boring in my life." I chuckled at that. "I was wrong. This place..hold so many of my memories... It is also the place where I met my friends.." I let out a wistful smile as I thought about them. "Everything started with that dream...Though I didn't knew it was one back then. I remembered waking up in a place filled with fog. I could barely see what was in front of me. Soon enough, I heard a voice calling out to me."

_Do you seek the truth...?_

"That was what the voice was saying. I ran forward, trying to find out the origin of the voice."

_If it's truth you desire, come and find me..._

"..The voice was becoming louder. I started moving once again, and not long after, I was facing some kind of door. I didn't move at first. For some reason I was reluctant to open it. However, the choice was never mine to begin with. The door opened on it's own, and before I knew it, I found myself in a barren wasteland with even more fog..."

_So, you are the one pursuing me.._

"It was the same voice as before. But this time I could make out the silhouette of a person through the fog.."

_HmHmHm.. Try all you like..._

"I don't know how it happened, but I found myself with a weapon in my hands. Acting on instinct, I tried to attack the figure. I succeeded. But even then, it was as if nothing had happened."

_Hmm... It seems that you can see a little, despite the fog..._

_I see... Indeed, you possess an interesting quality..._

_But... you will not catch me so easily..._

_If what you seek is 'truth', then your search will be even harder..._

"..As it spoke those words, more fog started to appear. Because of that, I lost sight of it..."

_Everyone sees what they want to..._

_And the fog only deepens..._

"I tried to rely on my other senses..But I was met with failure.."

_...Will we meet again...?_

_At a place other than here..._

_HmHm...I look forward to it..._

"That was when I woke up... Even thought it was a dream, by the end of the year, I would find out that it was a lot more than that.." I noticed I had Hamuko's full attention. Our food long since forgotten. "How about we continue this conversation at the dorm?" She nodded. I paid for the ramen and we left the restaurant.

* * *

Iwatodai Dorm

We were in front of the dorm. The walk back home was done in silence. Before we entered I called Hamuko.

"Hamuko-chan." I took my room key out of my pocket and gave it to her. "That's the key of my room. Seeing as we can't really talk about all this in the lounge, I figured we'll do it there." It was the only place I was sure we wouldn't be eavesdrop. I had already destroyed all the cameras and micro in it. I had even go as far as to change the lock of the door. "You can go there first. I'll prepare us some coffee since the rest of the story may take a while to tell." She seemed to accept the explanation, even though her face was a bit red.

As we entered I was thankful no one was in the lounge. I headed to the kitchen while Hamuko made her way upstairs. Five minutes later I entered my room with two mugs of coffee. Hamuko was sitting on my bed. I sat next to her and gave her the drink.

"So..I told you about the dream. So next come my first day to Yasogami High. It was raining that day. I was introduced to my new class by my homeroom teacher...If you can call that an introduction. King moron as we called him, was the worst possible teacher ever. To him, girls were whore, and guys were perverts. Nearly half of our class with him were spent listening to his rant about how much of a lowlife we actually were."

"And I thought Ekoda was bad..." Said Hamuko. I chuckle a little at that.

"Anyway, school was over, and the rain had stopped. In it's place...Fog. Lot of it. I was about to head out but was stopped by a school announcement. There was an accident near the school, and we were asked to head home directly. On my way out, I was asked by two girls if I wanted to go home with them."

"Well, aren't you popular." Commented Hamuko with a sly smirk.

"Yeah, it's tough being SO good looking." I said, playing along. "Back to the story, the two girls were called Chie Satonaka and Yukiko Amagi. As we were walking home, we came across several police car. There were a lot of people in the area. From what we could hear, a dead body was found, hanging out from an antenna."

"..Hanging from an antenna?"

"..Yeah. The next day, I met a guy that would in the future become my best friend. Yosuke Hanamura. I kinda helped him to get out of a trashcan, so as a thank you he offered to treat me to some food. We went to the local shopping mall, it was run by Yosuke's family. Chie was also with us. One conversation led to another and soon enough, Chie told us about a certain rumor going on around the town. About, the Midnight Channel. If you look into a TV that's switched off, at midnight, on a rainy night. While you're starring at your own image, another person will appear on the screen... Supposedly, that person would be your soulmate."

"Sounds stupid."

"I thought as much. However since it would be raining that night, we all decided to try it out. It was nearly midnight and I was standing in front on my TV. When it was time, my TV switched on by itself...I could barely see anything as the image wasn't stable. I only managed to make out two details. It was a girl and she was wearing the Yasogami uniform. When the image stopped...I heard a voice..." I stood up from my bed and walked toward the TV. "I am thou, Thou art I. Thou art the one, who opens the door." I touched the screen.

_Ripple_

"What the hell?" Hamuko yelled. I laughed at her outburst.

"Yeah that was pretty much my first reaction too. Add to that, the fact that the first time I did it, something within the TV tried to grab me and pull me within it. You have no idea how thankful I am that my TV was too small for me to pass through. I don't think I would be alive otherwise."

"W-What's on the other side?" Stuttered Hamuko.

"..The Shadow world."

From this point I explained to her how Chie, Yosuke and I entered the other side. How we met Teddie. How Yosuke and I decided to find clue about the murder case. How I summoned Izanagi for the first time, and how Yosuke had to face his own Shadow in order to obtain his Persona.

"..It all makes sense now. What you told us on the roof." I nodded at that. "What happened after this?" I walked to her.

"That..." I flicked her forehead. "Is a story for another time!" I said cheerfully.

"What! You can't just stop there!" It's amazing how Hamuko could look cute while glaring.

"As I said, I will continue another time. Who know, maybe on our next date?" I added with a smirk. She blushed and stood up. As she was about to leave I called her. "Hamuko... Thanks for listening. I'm glad there is someone with who I can share my past." She seemed taken aback by what I said but nodded after a moment.

"Good night Souji-kun."

"Good night Hamuko-chan." As she finally left the room I realized something. "She didn't deny it was a date.." I shook my head to clear off my mind. "Well, off to bed.."

* * *

Bookworms 04/26/2009

This morning, I was woken up by a phone call from Hamuko. She wished to know if I wanted to go to the bookstore today too. I agreed as I had nothing planned for today and I wasn't in the mood to train. Which is why the both of us were currently here.

"Oh, you both came back! Welcome, um...What was your name again?"

"Have you forgotten us, Bunkichi-san?" I asked. Not sure if he was joking or not.

"I'm just joking. I know who you are. I'm not that old." I should have know. "My wife and I were just talking about you two. Hamuko-chan, Souji-chan, do you like Melon-breads?" I didn't miss Hamuko's amused expression as my name was called. "Someone gave them to me but I have more than enough. Go ahead and take one." I didn't have any breakfast today so why not.

"No thank you." Hamuko refused politely.

"Well, if you really don't mind I'll gladly take one." I said. I thanked him as he handed me a bread.

"Don't worry about it. It's just a melon bread. There's no need to thank me. Souji-chan, you're so polite. I wished HE had been that way..." Who's 'he'? "Do you want one for a friend too? Because it'll take us forever to finish them all." I didn't even had the time to answer that he already gave me more of them. "Alright here you go...Um..er..uh. What was your name again?" I don't think he's joking this time.

"Remember dear? This is Souji-chan and Hamuko-chan." Intervened Mitsuko. "I'm sorry. He's terribly forgetful lately." She apologized.

"...Where did he run off to, dear? He should be here helping customers." Aren't we the only 'customers' here? I took notice of Mitsuko downcast expression.

"Who are you talking about?" Asked Hamuko.

"Our spoiled son. He hasn't been back in a while. Where did he go, dear?" Bunkichi asked his wife.

"Must you, dear...?" Her voice was quivering a little. I could already imagine why.

"...Oh that's right...Our son is deceased..." Said Bunkichi. I really felt bad for them at this moment. "My apologies. I hope I'm not making you feel uncomfortable."

**Hierophant: Rank 2**

"_Thou art I... And I am thou..."_

"_Thou shalt have our blessing when thou choosest to create a Persona of the Hierophant Arcana..."_

"H-Hey, hey! Why the gloomy faces? It's dark outside I don't need it to be dark in here too...Please come again, we'll be waiting for you two."

We both left the store after saying goodbye.

* * *

Classroom 04/27/2009 (Monday)

I shouldn't have come to school today. First, I had to listen to a shitty version of Mitsuru's speech first thing in the morning. Then all of my class for the fist half of the day was with Ekoda. Normally it wouldn't be a problem as I would just sleep through them, except this time I couldn't. All of this because of Junpei constant pestering. Why couldn't he just listen to the teacher instead of asking me for answer! Anyway, school was finally over and I was trying to calm myself with the knowledge that this day couldn't get any worse. Just as I thought this I felt a shiver run down my spine. I stood up in a hurry, startling the ones around me.

"Whoa, what's up with you?" Junpei asked me.

"My slacker senses are tingling." I said to him. Junpei, Yukari and Hamuko were looking at me as if I was crazy. "I need to get out of the school before-" I was unable to finish as Mitsuru entered our classroom. She came toward us immediately.

"Good, you two are still here." She said, addressing both Hamuko and myself. "I have a request for the both of you. I want you to join the Student Council."

"-before something like this happen..." I finished. There was no way I would join the Student Council.

"Why so sudden?" Asked Hamuko, while Junpei and Yukari were laughing their asses off at my predicament.

"Well, it's not like you'd have to participate in every activity. Just come to the Student Council Room when you have the time." No, no and NO! I don't have time to lose with something like this. If I didn't join a sports club it's for a reason. Now how do I get out of this situation...Let's try the direct approach.

"I'm sorry but I'll have to pass. I'm not made for things like student council. Besides I have a lot of things to do outside of school." I said to Mitsuru.

"Like what?" Asked Mitsuru with narrowed eyes.

"Training for one. I also need to gather money to finance the weapons of S.E.E.S." Now to make sure she would drop the idea."Besides..." I grasped one of her hand and kissed it. "If I were to join the student council I wouldn't be able to hit on you anymore. After all you can't mix love with work." Taking advantage of her shock, I quickly grabbed my bag and made a run for it. "I'll see you at the dorm!" I yelled as I left the classroom. Now, let's start the count...5...4...3...2...1...

"**...SETAAAAAA!"** With enough luck, this should start a rumor and I wouldn't be able to join the council because of it. On the downside I would have to convince Mitsuru not to kill me.

* * *

Tartarus

We were in front of the stairs leading to the strong presence Mitsuru had sensed the other day. I turned to my group.

"Is everyone ready?" I asked them. I got a nod from each of them. "Then let's get going. Remember, this will be a lot more difficult than the normal Shadows. So give everything you have." With that being said, we went up the stairs. This new floor was different from the narrow corridor we usually went through until now. It was extremely wide, and spacious, which made it perfect to fight. I spotted the teleporter near an hallway. However no sign of the Shadow.

"..Mitsuru, can you see the presence you were talking about?" I asked quietly.

_/- Yes. There seems to be three of them. They are waiting in the hallway near your position. -/_ Informed Mitsuru. I glanced at my group.

"You three wait here, I'm going to bring them in this room."

"Isn't that dangerous to go alone?" Yukari asked me. I shook my head.

"No. I'm the fastest out of all of us. I should be fine. Furthermore it will allow me to devise a plan once I see them." I told her. I got a reluctant nod in response. I slowly headed to the edge of the hallway. Careful not to make any noise. I peered inside the hallway and saw our targets. Three bird like Shadows. Given their type there was a lot of chance for them to use wind based attack. It would be quite troublesome for Junpei. I was about to rely the information to the group but I was spotted by one of the Shadow. With a shrilling cry, it alerted his companions of my presence.

"Shit! Mitsuru start the analysis!" I gathered SP through my legs and dashed back to my group. As I caught up to them I started giving out orders.

"Junpei! Keep your guards up at all time! There is a big chance for them to use wind spell! Only attack if we manage to pinpoint their weakness or if I ask you to! Yukari, healing! Hamuko, help me find their weaknesses in case Mitsuru cannot!" Just as I finished, the three birds entered the room. "Surround them!" As I made my way around them I charged up a Zio spell into my hand and fired it as my closest target. It barely flinched and dived at me in retaliation. I easily dodged the attack .

_/- I'm unable to find their weaknesses! I'm sorry but you'll have to find them on your own! -/_ Figures. I saw Hamuko summoning Orpheus to cast an Agi spell at one of the bird, only for it to absorb said spell. She then narrowly dodged the attack from her enemy. The third bird was glowing an eerie green. I quickly switch my Persona to Susanoo. Soon enough, all of my group was blasted away by a gust of wind. Thankfully none of them seemed to be hurt too badly. Even Junpei had managed to escape most of it. My mind was racing. We needed to find there weaknesses and fast.

"Junpei! Try slash attack! Hamuko! Use ice!" I switched my Persona to that of Chie. "Suzuka Gongen! Skewer!" I slashed the card, all the while avoiding the wild attacks of that freaking bird. Chie's Persona appeared before me and impaled the bird, sending it crashing to the ground.

_/- The enemy is weak to pierce attack! -/ _Thank you, Captain Obvious!

"Yukari! Use your bow! Hamuko! Use cadenza! Get ready for an all out attack!" I didn't have to wait long for Hamuko to cast the spell. With her new found speed Yukari managed to shoot the two remaining enemies before they had a chance to react. "**All out attack!**" The damage inflicted to the Shadows by our assault was considerable, but not enough. Two of the birds started glowing. I was unable to switch my Persona in time and was sent flying against a wall, courtesy of two Magaru spell. I painfully got back on my two feet and looked at my team. Yukari and Hamuko were fine but Junpei was unconscious. Yukari was firing arrows at a furious pace and with Hamuko's help, brought the three Shadows down once again. I summoned Amaterasu in a hurry and cast a heal on myself. I joined Yukari and Hamuko for a last All out attack, killing the Shadows once and for all.

_/- Great job everyone. You don't have much time until the end of the Dark Hour. You should come back as soon as possible. -/ _

I glanced at my team. Hamuko was sitting on the ground, trying to catch her breath, and Yukari was healing a still unconscious Junpei. I was about to call them but was stopped by the vision of cards. I growled in annoyance, until I noticed that they were different than the usual one. It was no Skill cards nor Gem cards. Those cards were yellow. They were three of them. One with the Kanji for water, one for earth, and one for...Charm? I was so caught up in my thought that I didn't had any time to pick up a card before they started shuffling. I shrugged and grabbed one at random. It was the water one. The cards vanished and I found myself holding my head in pain. It was just like the fist time I had seen Mitsuru with my new eyes. As the pain finally subsided, I realized what the card had done to me. I raised one of my hand, palm facing against a wall.

"**Aqua!**" A perfect sphere made out of water began to form in front of my hand. Once it was done taking shape, it sped toward the wall at an impressive speed. The impact was so strong that it left a dent in the wall. I let out a grin that could be a match even for Igor. I could use Personae skills. Not the lesser version which only granted a quarter of their true power, but the real ones! I would have to go to the Velvet Room by tomorrow to get more information about this.

"..What was that?" I was brought out of my musing by Hamuko. Both her and Yukari were staring at me. I shrugged.

"Well...Apparently I can use Personae spell now. I'm that awesome." I said while scratching the back of my head. However I got back to my leader mode as I saw Junpei was still out cold. "How is Junpei?" Yukari answered quickly, probably noticing the change in my attitude

"He's fine physically. I healed all of his wounds. He just need to wake up." I nodded and walked toward Junpei. Time to see if I could use shape manipulation with this new spell of mine. I placed one of my hand above his head and started channeling my SP.

_Drip_

Drops of water was falling from my hand. Not satisfied with the result I decided to increase the amount of SP to it's maximum. Not my wisest decision.

_Swish!_

My hand was now throwing water a Junpei's face in the same fashion as a fire hose.

"Blarghh!" Well at least he was awake now. I tried to cut the flow of SP but even that wasn't working. To prevent Junpei from drowning I changed the direction my hand was facing. And it ended up right on Yukari.

"Kyaaah!" The spell finally started to dissipate. Junpei was coughing and trying to catch some air. As for Yukari... "_Souji_..." ...She was completely drenched from head to toe. I had two choices right now. Stay and face my punishment like a man. Or run and actually stay a man. I chose the second option and made a run for the teleporter. However in my hurry I forgot that it wasn't activated yet. I tried to touch all the button at random and got the desired results when the machine started glowing. Sadly it took too much time and Yukari had caught up to me. Seeing that I was about to get away, Yukari jumped toward me just as I activated the transfer. The both of us were sent back in the lobby of Tartarus in a compromising position. I was lying on my back. Yukari was on top of me and our faces inches apart from each others. Neither of us dared to move.

"*Cough* If you two are quite finish, maybe we could go home?" I carefully shifted my head to look at Mitsuru. Her eye was twitching. She was definitely angry. And what do you do when Mitsuru is angry? That's right! You piss her off even more!

"Don't know. I'm quite comfortable right now." I said to her. However just as I said that Yukari quickly got away from me. I cursed under my breath. Hamuko and Junpei both appeared out of the teleporter. I performed a wonderful kip-up to get back on my feet, and nearly broke my back in the process. I noticed Hamuko was holding what appeared to be...masks? "Hamuko, where did you get those things?"

"It was what remained of the Shadows. Normally once we killed them everything disappear, but this time those things were left behind. I thought we could find a use for them." She explained. To think that I missed that. Just like Hamuko said, each time we destroyed a Shadow in Tartarus, they were no proof of their existence left behind. It was one of the main differences compared to the Shadow World. It had also been one of my concern, as without Shadows remains, we wouldn't be able to craft new weapons. We would need to fight against more of those 'boss' Shadows to see if to was something common to them. But if that's the case it would become one of our priority to defeat each of them.

"It was a good decision. With this we'll be able to get stronger weapons and armor." Seeing their confused look, I explained further. "The weapons we currently wield are made of Shadows remains. That's why they posses some abilities. The stronger the Shadow is, the stronger the item will be."

"Are you telling me that Officer Kurosawa somehow got his hands on Shadows remains? How is that even possible?" Asked Mitsuru. I shrugged.

"Who knows? Shadows are everywhere, not just in Tartarus. The same can be said for Persona-users. Besides, I doubt Kurosawa even knew those weapons were special. Anyway, let's go home. If I don't get enough sleep I might just end up skipping class."

"Surely you are joking?"

"Yeah, yeah. I'm joking. Though if you're really concerned about that, we can always go to school together. I mean, it's your duty as Student Council President to ensure that the rules are uphold." It was funny to see Mitsuru glaring at me while blushing a little.

We finally left Tartarus. Not long after I heard Yukari sneeze. Not surprising, the night was quite cold and she was completely soaked. I took my school vest off and gave it to her. "Put this on. I'm sorry about the water, I really didn't do it on purpose." I told her sincerely. She was glaring at me for a moment before accepting the vest.

"Man, why aren't you apologizing to me too? You nearly drowned me!" Said Junpei. I looked at him with a blank face.

"Sorry about the water, I totally did it on purpose." I love being a jerk.

"You're an asshole."

"I know."

* * *

Police Station 04/28/2009 (Tuesday)

I went to Paulownia Mall as soon a school was over. I needed to confirm some things with Kurosawa.

"It's you...What do you want?" Nice way of greetings customers... I took out the three Shadows mask out of my school bag.

"Would you be interested in this?" I asked him.

"...I'll give you 15.000¥ for the three of them." That was definitely weird. He was willing to give me so much money just after seeing them. I gave him the masks. As he handed me the money I decided to try something.

"Give my regards to old man Daidara." The look of shock on his face was evident.

"How do you know him?" That definitely confirmed it.

"There isn't much peoples who can makes weapons out of such material." It also explained how he wasn't surprised with all the shit we brought him back in Inaba. He was used to work with Shadows remains. Inwardly though I was glad Daidara was behind this. I wouldn't have to worry about the quality of our weapons at all. "Please notify us when you get new weapons." Now, it was time to see Igor.

* * *

Velvet Room

"Welcome, Master Seta." I need to do something about that...

"Hello, Elizabeth, Margaret, Igor." I greeted them and took my usual seat. "So...Any reason I can learn Personae spell?" I asked Igor.

"It was one of the ability that was bestowed upon you." He waved his hand and made a compendium appear out of nowhere. "Just like with your Personae, we will provide our services to help you master this gift of yours." He handed me the compendium. It was similar to the Persona compendium, but instead of Personae, the skill cards that I had found were in there. Including the Aqua card.

"Am I correct to assume that it'll work like a Persona does?" Something like that was bound to have limitation. I looked Igor in the eyes. "I can only use so much of them at the same time."

"Indeed. Those cards can be classified in three different categories. The spell cards. You can only hold three of those at the same time. The aura cards. Just like the spell cards, you can only hold three of them. And finally, the demon cards." Igor explained, his grin widening dramatically as he finished. I raised an eyebrow at the name.

"Demon cards?" I inquired.

"You can only hold one card of said category. Some of them function much like Spell or Aura cards, while others will grant you some 'unusual' capacities." I swear one day I will get back at Igor for all his cryptic answers.

"All right. I guess I'll see what you mean when the time comes. On different matters, is my money still within the Velvet Room, or has the time travel destroyed it?" With another wave of his hand Igor made several briefcase appear in a corner of the elevator. Maybe I should ask him if he could teach me how to do that. I stood up and walked toward them. I opened one and... "Holy shit..." I already knew I had a lot of money. But actually seeing it like that. The briefcase was full with stack of bills. And there were several briefcase... "Igor, could you please use this money to finance whatever Hamuko-chan would need in the Velvet Room? Be it Persona or ordinary Skill cards, if she can access them." I said, my eyes not leaving the money.

"Very well."

"Also..." There is a lot of money... I suppose I could use some of it. Yeah. Besides, it will definitely come in handy when the time comes. "Could you do me a favor?"

* * *

"Thank you for your business! It should be ready within a month or so. We'll contact you once it gets here."

"The pleasure is all mine. I'll be waiting for your call." I answered, unable to get rid of the stupid grin plastered on my face. It would sure be a long month.

* * *

**Chapter 6 End**

*Sigh* Chapter over, though a little late. Not much happened in it once again. The boring social link with the bookstore and a flashback of the event in P4. However it was needed. I don't want to rush the story and I intend to take my time to develop the characters and the relation between all S.E.E.S. members(the outside social link too, but my main concern stay with S.E.E.S.). On the good side, you learn more about Souji's ability. I'm sorry to say that the next chapter will definitely take more time(With Christmas, New Year etc..). I won't give a date for fear of not being able to finish by then. However after this it should come back to a normal rhythm.

Question time!

**Souji's ability:** For those who played Devil Survivor, it will kinda function in the same way it does for the demon and characters. However there will be a lot of new spell. Aqua, and terra are some of them. (Thank you blazingreaper for this.) I do hope it will make the fights more entertaining.

**Souji overpowered: **Something I already said once but it's best to say it again. Souji will not be overpowered. Even with his new skills.

**What did Souji bought at the end?:** Who knows? :O

**Mitsuru and her reason to fight:** I know Mitsuru claim to fight to protect her father in the original P3, but you can't deny that there may also me a lot of guilt on her part for the action committed by her ancestor. At least that's how I see it.

**No suffix in Tartarus:** Some of you may have noticed I rarely use suffix such as -san -chan -kun in Tartarus. It is intended. I mean, you don't really have time for formality in a life and death situation.

I thank you all for the reviews and will see you next time!


	7. Chapter 7

Disclaimer: I do not own Persona 3, P3P, Persona 4

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**Chapter 7:**

Tartarus 04/28/2009 (Tuesday)

We were once again in Tartarus. I didn't really like coming to this place two days in a row, but seeing as there wouldn't be any school tomorrow, I thought we would have more than enough time to recuperate. We were currently in front of the stairs leading to the second presence felt by Mitsuru. After making sure that my team was ready, we proceeded upstairs. The room was the same as the last one where we had fought the three bird like Shadows. And just as before, none of the enemy were in sight.

"Mitsuru?" I called through our link.

_/- This is just like before. The Shadows are waiting in the hallway near the teleporter. -/_ Mitsuru answered to my unasked question. I nodded even though she couldn't see it and turned toward my comrades.

"Well, same as before team. I'll try to scout ahead and found more about the enemy. Get ready to engage at any moment." I announced before making my way toward the enemy. Once in place, I only took a quick peek in the hallway, not wanting a repeat of what happened with the birds. There was no words to describe what I witnessed. "...This place is seriously fucked up..." I muttered to myself.

"_Is there a problem Souji-kun?"_ I heard Hamuko's voice through the earbuds. I sighed.

"I've found the 'enemy'." I put an emphasis on the word enemy. "They are three of them just like before. They look like...Three walking hands, dressed with pink candy wrapping..." There was an awkward silence for a moment.

_/- ...Did you manage to found anything else that could indicate a weakness? -/ _I could feel my eyes twitching at Mitsuru's question.

"What kind of weakness do you expect me to find against this shit?" I half-yelled, still trying to keep a minimum of stealth. "Damn, I hate this place. Next thing you know we'll be fighting against living table or the like of it." I took a deep breath to calm myself. "Well, no use in just waiting here at doing nothing. Let's just hope for the best!" I quickly stepped in the corridor. "Rokuten Maoh!" I yelled, summoning my current Persona and getting the Shadow's attention. Kanji's Persona smashed one of the hand thingy against a wall with his giant weapon. I didn't waste anymore time and immediately rushed back to the main hall.

_/- Great job Seta! The enemy is weak to strike attack! -/_ Wow, talk about lucky. Everyone was already in place when two of the Shadows arrived. Guess the last one hadn't recuperate yet. We needed to take advantage of that and as fast as possible. I started relaying my orders.

"Hamuko! You'll have to take one by yourself! Junpei! Get ready to assist me! Yukari! I want you to shoot down the remaining Shadow when it comes here!" As I was talking, Hamuko had taken the initiative to cast a Cadenza on the group, thus increasing our speed. I quickly switched my Persona to that of Yosuke which had an better precision than Rokuten Maoh and summoned it to bash one of the Shadows. The attack being a success, Junpei took that as his signal and rushed it alongside me. Once I was in range I crouched down and swung my blade in a wide arc, right through the lower half of the Shadow. Junpei did exactly the same thing for the upper half. The 'hand' was now laying on the ground in three different parts that soon enough disappeared into a black mist. You gotta love teamwork.

"Shadow incoming!" I heard Yukari yelling to us. I took a quick glance at Hamuko. She was doing quite fine on her own. Switching between Persona to minimize the damage done by the constant attack from the Shadow. However one mistake would put her in too much danger.

"Junpei, go assist Hamuko." I told him quickly.

"Got it!" He answered, before running toward his new target. I did the same for mine.

The hand shaped monster was snapping his fingers like crazy sending all kind of spells at Yukari who was doing her best to dodge. However when I saw sparks surrounding the monster, I knew what was coming. Out of all element the lightning's one were the fastest and it would be impossible for Yukari to dodge. Add to that her natural weakness to lightning spell. Needless to say the result wouldn't be pretty. However I wasn't close enough to the Shadow to stop it so I did the next best thing. I channeled a lot of SP through my leg and with a burst of speed, throw myself between Yukari and the Shadow.

I didn't have anymore time to switch my Persona and took the Zio spell head on. I fell on my back in pain. I dropped my sword, unable to hold it anymore due to the lightning affecting most of my muscles. Still lying on my back, I focused my gaze on my enemy. The bastard jumped toward me with the intent to finish me off, uncaring about the arrows that kept piercing him. Still in the air, the monster closed his fingers taking the shape of a fist. I immediately rolled out of the way. Not a second later the monster impacted with the ground, the shock-wave from this attack sending me a little farther than intended.

I quickly got up and ran at the Shadow. When I finally was in range, I jumped toward the Shadow and delivered a devastating spinning kick on its mask, cracking it. The Shadow fell on it's back, it's weakness exploited. I didn't relent in my assault and jumped toward it once again. Still in mid-air I pointed my knee toward the ground, more precisely the mask of the Shadow. I smashed my knee in the already cracked mask, completely breaking it and killing the monster at the same time.

_/- Good work! All the enemy have been destroyed! -/ _As I stood up I shift my gaze toward Hamuko and Junpei. They seemed relatively fine. Our teamwork was really getting better it would seem.

_Swish!_

Oh! New cards! Let's see.. Terra, an earth spell obviously. Charm, tempting but not yet. Dormina. Hmmm... Why not? The cards shuffled themselves. I immediately caught the card I wanted. I turned it around to confirm I didn't miss, which I didn't. The card disappeared and I found myself on the receiving end of the usual headache. Dormina, a sleeping spell. However being under said spell make one's regenerate his health. It sure had potential. That being done, I looked around the room for some Shadow remain. There were none. I concluded last time was due to luck and we would have to slay more Shadows to get new equipment.

"Why did you throw yourself in front of me?" Huh? I turned around at the voice, only to find Yukari glaring at me. I tilted my head in confusion.

"That was the best solution. You are weak to lightning attack, I'm not." Well, wasn't, with my current Persona.

"I can take care of myself!" And with that she left for the teleporter. I raised an eyebrow at her reaction. I'll need to talk to her later. I found my two other teammates staring at me, apparently confused at my exchange with Yukari. I sighed.

"Alrtight kids. Let's get home." I said before picking up my sword off the ground and making my way toward the teleporter.

"..Kids? We're the same age!" Junpei yelled indignantly. I snorted. Same age, right. How long did I stay in that barren wasteland after my fight with Izanami? I shook my head. I didn't need to think about this now. Once in the lounge I searched for Yukari and didn't found her. I frowned.

"Where's Yukari?" I asked to both Mitsuru and Akihiko.

"Dunno. She left ahead of us." Answered Akihiko. I nodded and ran out of Tartarus to catch up with her and find out what was wrong. I spotted her near the entrance of the school and quickly made my way there.

"Alright. What's your problem?" I asked slightly annoyed.

"You're my problem!" Alright now I was definitely annoyed. "I'm not some weak girl that need to be protected! I didn't ask for your help!" Make it pissed. I glared at her.

"Well, be prepared to hate me a whole lot more in the coming months, because I'm not about to watch one of my friend get hurt without doing anything!" I yelled at her. Judging by her facial expression she didn't quite expect that. "Because this, is the kind of person you became friend with! I already told all of you guys that I would protect each of you at the best of my capacities! And I will stop at _nothing_ to do that! So feel free to despise me as much as you want!" With that being said, I started walking away in the direction opposite to the dorm.

"Seta! Where are you going?" I heard Mitsuru asking me. I turned around. Everyone else was there. I was just too angry to notice before.

"Take come fresh air to cool my nerves." I gave a lazy wave and went away.

* * *

It was a while later that I would realize I had been walking around town with my sword still strapped to my back. Thank god the streets were empty at this hour, well, that is if you don't count the occasional thug here and there. Though, a look with my newly dubbed 'yellow-glare' was generally enough to make them run away. I ended up walking through the whole town, from Paulownia to the Strip Mall, passing by the Shrine. I was still incredibly pissed off by what had happened with Yukari. It was 3 A.M before I decided to go back home. To my surprise there was still some light coming from the lounge. I switched my Persona to Kanzeon to increase my senses and find out if someone was still awake. I could sense Hamuko's presence but no one else. I shook my head and entered. I took a quick look around to found her and couldn't help but chuckle when I did. She was sleeping on one of the couch, slightly snoring. Her headphone was still on her head and still working as I could hear the faint noise of a song. I made my way toward her, took her headphone off and gently shook her shoulder.

"Hamuko-chan... Hamuko-chan, wake up..." She kept mumbling incomprehensible things in her sleep but didn't show sign of waking up anytime soon. I sighed and went up to my room to pick up some blankets. When I came back I put one on Hamuko and kept another with me. I turned the light of the lounge off and lay down on one of the free couch. "'Night Hamuko..." Now it was time to see if I could use that sleeping spell on myself.

**Dormina!**

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Iwatodai Dorm: Lounge 04/29/2009 (Wednesday)

**Smack!**

I woke up abruptly at the sudden pain that was assaulting my head. I glared at the one responsible for it.

"What the hell Hamuko?" I yelled.

"That's for worrying me last night! Why didn't you answer your phone? " She yelled just as loudly. Both of us were engaged in a glaring contest. I was the first to look away.

"Aren't you exaggerating a little? I just took a walk.." I mumbled while taking out my phone. No more battery. Figures. I looked around. There wasn't much light outside and no one else seemed to be awake either. It was probably still very early. It would explain why I was still so freaking tired.

"A walk? You call coming home in the middle of the night taking a walk?" Damn. She was really starting to scare me acting like that. Though for some reason I couldn't help but feel a little happy to see her worrying for me. I sighed.

"Sorry, I was just angry after what happened with Yukari, and I still am. I needed some time alone. Still, I'm really sorry for worrying you." I told her sincerely. That seemed to calm her down if only a little.

"I don't think she really meant what she said you know. You should go talk to her about it." I shook my head in the negative.

"No. If she want to talk about it I'll listen but I won't be the one to initiate this conversation." I stood up from the couch and went toward the bathroom to wash my face. As I was about to close the door I turned around with a little smirk. "By the way, I never would have imagined a cute girl like you could snore in her sleep." I took great pleasure to see Hamuko reduced to a spluttering mess, her face red with embarrassment. "Have a great day!" I said cheerfully before closing the door.

"_Bakaaaa!" _A great day indeed.

* * *

Iwatodai Dorm: Rooftop

Today was training day. And the first thing I had planned, was to try to reduce the amount of SP needed to perform a **'Solar Flare'**.

In theory it shouldn't be that difficult. I just needed a lot of control when it came to the creation of the fire orb. With that in mind I took position at the center of the roof and spread my arms wide open. I pictured the power of both Susano-o and Amaterasu merging together. I crushed the cards.

"**Fusion Spell: Solar Flare!**" It was just as before. My SP was leaving my body in waves. The fire orb was starting to appear. I closed my eyes in concentration. I tried to filter my power as much as I could but most of all, I tried not to succumb to this intoxicating feeling that came with the use of a fusion spell. This feeling of power. As if I was capable of doing anything. It was almost like a drug. When I finally managed to cut the flow of SP, half of my reserves were already gone. I opened my eyes. The orb was slightly smaller than last time and wasn't shining nearly as bright.

**Boom!**

Heh. Bet that one woke up most of the dorm. The explosion resulting from the spell was nearly comparable to a Maragion spell, though a little weaker. Still, for a first try it wasn't that bad. I had more or less fulfilled my first objective. The down side? It took me way too much concentration to stop feeding the orb with SP. And I doubt I'll have that luxury on the field. The only thing I could do now was to continue to cast fusion spells and acclimate myself to the feeling that comes with it.

"Which means...Time for a second try!" I yelled in an attempt to pump myself up. Besides, if I couldn't sleep, neither could they! "**Fusion Spell: Solar Flare!**"

**Boom!**

I fell on my knees in exhaustion. It wasn't as bad as the first time I tried this though. I still had some SP left in me but it was better to let it regenerate for now. Guess I'll have to stick to physical training for a while. I stood up and unsheathed my sword. For the next hour I went through different sword kata that I had picked up during my year in Inaba. It's not that I was using one style in particular to fight but it was still extremely helpful to keep my skills sharp. I then went through some muscles training and repetitively swung my sword in all different kind of motions and that until I couldn't continue anymore. Deciding to make a pause I made my way toward the lounge. Everyone was awake by that point.

"Sleep well?" I asked to everyone in the room with a bit of amusement. All eyes turned to glare at me. Well, not all. Hamuko was not. She seemed a bit amused herself. And Yukari just kept shifting her gaze between me and the ground.

"Dude! Did you have to train so early? I thought I had an hearth attack this morning!" Complained Junpei.

"Still tired?" I asked him.

"Of course I am!" I nodded.

"**Dormina.**" Junpei fell asleep on the couch he was sitting on. Yep. I'm starting to really love that spell. Most of the others looked at me in shock. "New spell. I can make people sleep. Even work on myself. Best thing is, it heals you while you sleep." I explained.

"And you used it on Iori because..?" Mitsuru asked. I shrugged.

"He said he was tired." And with that I went in the kitchen to prepare some breakfast. I emerged a little while later with enough pancakes for everyone. "Here. As an apology for waking you guys up." I said before canceling the spell placed on Junpei.

"That's awfully considerate of you." Commented Mitsuru. I gave a mock bow and then walked toward the stairs.

"Wait Souji-kun! You're not eating with us?" Hamuko asked me.

"No, sorry. I've been slacking with my training lately. I just came here to make a pause. I'll see you guys later."

For the remainder of the day I kept on training. Be it my muscles. My aim. My water element. Or my control over the fusion spell. The Dormina spell proved itself to be far more useful than I had first anticipated. When I was too tired to continue to train physically all I needed was to use it on myself, after what I would generally wake up one or two hours later feeling completely fine. And it was after one said time that _it_ happened.

* * *

I was awake. I could tell that much. But for some reason I couldn't bring myself to open my eyes. I felt great. Greater than I had in what seemed to be a very long time. No... It wasn't that. I just felt... At peace.

I cracked a small smile. It was a nice feeling. Not having to think about anything. Not having to think about Izanami. About Nyx. About the Shadows. Just enjoying this moment to its fullest.

There was a slight breeze in the air, and I could feel the warmth of the sun on my skin. I could hear the sound of traffic on the road outside. I could hear the sound of people going on about their daily lives. I could hear the trees with the breeze blowing. I could also hear the leaves rustling on the ground. I could hear some birds chirping. I could hear a faint song coming from behind me. I could hea-.

Wait. A song?

I tried to focus on this particular sound.

"_-out, I hold out. I reach out to the truth of my life. Seeking to seize-_"

This song. There was only one thing it could come from. My MP3. And there was only one person that would take it without even asking me.

"..Hamuko." I called.

"Finally awake?" She asked me. I sighed and finally opened my eyes. Yep. Hamuko was here. However..

"Why...am I sleeping on your lap?" Indeed Hamuko was sitting just besides me. My head on her lap. She tore her gaze away from mine with a blush.

"I came here to check up on you and saw that you were sleeping on the floor. See that as a thank you for this morning..." I chuckled a little a her explanation.

"I see... Then, don't hold it against me if I stay like that a while longer..." I said before closing my eyes once more.

"Don't get used to it though! It's a one time thing only!" She exclaimed quickly. I chuckled once again.

"That sucks... I had the best nap of my entire life... Maybe I should cook for you more often..." I replied sleepily. I heard her mumble a quiet 'maybe' but chose not to question her about it. I ended up listening to her talking about what she did today. Apparently she went to the bookstore. Met some weird french kid. She also told me about Bunkichi and Mitsuko's son and how he died in a car accident. I frowned a little at that. I continued to talk with Hamuko for a long while. Well, it was mostly her doing the talking and me listening. My consciousness drifting away little by little until I finally fell asleep.

* * *

School Grounds 04/30/2009 (Thursday)

Today I left the dorm earlier than anyone else. I was also careful not to meet with either Yukari nor Hamuko. The reason? Well, I wanted a bit of time to myself. Also, Yukari still hadn't talk to me about the other day '_incident_'. As for Hamuko... I just couldn't talk to her without reminiscing what happened yesterday. I could feel my face heat up just thinking about it. It didn't bother me much on the moment, but that was mostly due to the fact that I was half asleep and too damn comfortable to actually give a damn. But now... I may flirt around a lot but it was actually the most contact I ever had with another girl...

Raah! To hell with that! I'm just gonna walk calmly to school, and will stop thinking about any of this! When I see Hamuko, I'll act like I normally do and that's it! I turned my MP3 on, and switched my Persona to Kanzeon. I closed my eyes and continued to walk, fully immersing myself into the music that was playing. Kanzeon was awesome for that. I didn't need to see to actually move. I could just 'feel' the world around me.

_ Withered flowers forget_

_What they wept for day after day_

_Withered flowers blossom_

_In the stream of tears_

_They still think of the cause _

As I listened to the music I started to remember my time in Inaba. Walking through Samegawa flood plain to go to school. Meeting some of my friends along the way. That was part of my daily routine...

_ Turning misery into meaningfulness_

_Changing day after day_

_Turning misery into meaningfulness_

_Changing day after day _

...I remember how it was to attend a small school like Yasogami high. How I would sometime have lunch on the roof with other people. Then there was after school. I would either attend some club or hang out with a friend. Sometime I would take a part time job, or even go fish at the flood plain.

_ Your affection, your affection, taking pride from fear_

_Past will tell you when to make yourself a hero_

_Your affection, your affection, your affection_

_Past will tell you when to make yourself a hero _

Most of all, I remembered all those moment I shared with the members of the Special Investigation Team. The pageant contest, the king's game, the school festival and a lot of other events. All those time we spent at our 'Special Headquarter'. All those time in the Shadow World...

My musing was cut short as the music changed to that of the Junes theme song. I couldn't even hold it against Teddie anymore for putting this on my MP3. How I would like to be at Junes right now, eating a steak... Or two.

I suddenly stopped walking as I sensed two particular presences heading toward me, one faster than the other. I groaned. Was I really walking that slowly? I took my headphones off and turned around.

"Hamuko-chan." I greeted her while opening my eyes. As I stared at her pouting face the event of yesterday flashed through my mind. It took all of my will power not to blush and take my gaze away from her.

"That's the second time you leave the dorm without even waiting for us Souji-kun!" She complained. I shrugged.

"I left a note on my door didn't I?" I said while giving a curt nod to Yukari in greetings. Hamuko sighed and chose not to say anything else about it. We then resumed walking toward the school. Nobody was talking. The only sound present being the music coming from the headphones hanging around my neck.

_ Every day's great at you June _

"How can you even listen to this?" Asked Hamuko with a frown, after hearing a bit of the song.

"Nostalgia. Junes is the name of the store own by Yosuke's family." I explained not caring about Yukari being here. It's not like she could know of what I was talking about anyway. "I really like that place..." I said with a wistful smile on my face. "Maybe... " I started scratching my cheek nervously. "Maybe we could go on a date there one day, if you'd like..." Great job Souji! You can barely hold a conversation with her without blushing like a dumbass yet you ask her out on a date out of nowhere!

"Sure! I'd like that!" She exclaimed with the biggest smile I had ever seen. Well, that went better than I thought. Suddenly, I heard Yukari huff, and saw her stomp away from both Hamuko and I. I raised an eyebrow in confusion.

"What's up with her?" I asked to Hamuko who only shrugged in response. I sighed. I don't think I'll ever understand that girl.

* * *

Classroom

Ugh. I swear, Mr. Ono and Mrs. Sofue must be related somehow. One has an obsession for the Sengoku era and the other for Pharaoh. They both wear an helmet to teach at school for god's sake! Well, at least I managed to sleep through most of the other class thanks to the Dormina spell. Now that school was over, I was planning to go to the bookstore to see Bunkichi and Mitsuko, however before I could stand up from my seat Yukari called me.

"Souji-kun! Are you free this afternoon? I need to talk with you..." Huh. Did she finally decided to talk about what happened in Tartarus? Oh well, I could still go to the bookstore later.

"Yeah, I suppose I am." I saw her smile at me for the first time in a while.

"Good. It's a date then!" I raised an eyebrow at that. Not much because she chose to call this a date, but because she said it loud enough for the whole damn classroom to hear!

"Okayyy..." I trailed off.

**SLAM!**

I was startled by the sudden noise that came form besides me. Hamuko had just slammed her schoolbag on her desk.

"Y-You alright Hamuko-chan?" I asked her warily. She immediately turned her head toward me. She was smiling. Not her usual smile. It was the kind of smile that say 'Piss me off even more than I already am and I'll kill you'.

"I'm perfectly fine Souji-kun. Now, you should go and have fun with your..." A slight pause "... _Date_..." She hissed the word with no small amount of venom. For a moment I wanted to ask her if she was jealous, but my survival instincts screamed at me that it was a REALLY bad idea. So, I just nodded dumbly. Hamuko stood up from her seat, shot a nasty glare at Yukari, and left the classroom. I sighed in frustration. Couldn't I spend at least one day without trouble?

* * *

Port Island Station

Well, for the moment, the 'date' turned out to be pretty boring. We went straight from school to Port Island Station doing small talk along the way. Though, I wasn't really enthusiastic doing this as I was waiting for her to finally talk about her outburst the other day. Right now, we were both in front of a florist. Yukari was looking at diverse flowers and muttered something about lilies and roses.

"Maybe gerberas..?" Raaaah! Will you make you choice and finally talk to me! "Oh, sorry. I'm looking at flowers for my room." She explained all of sudden. "I think I'm gonna go with gerberas, but which color should I get?" She asked me. I sighed mentally and decided to answer her anyway.

"Why don't you go with both white and pink? I know you like pink however there already is a lot of that color in your room. That's why adding some white to the assortment would make it stand out a lot more." She turned a little red when I mentioned her room.

"That's right you already saw my room before... But, I think I like your idea." She seemed to think for a while then nodded. "Yep. Next time I come here I'll definitely go with that."

After leaving the florist, we went to sit on a public bench not to far away from the cinema. The both of us were silent for a long while until Yukari decided to speak.

"Souji-kun..." Yukari started. "I... I want to apologize for what happened the other day. When I said those things to you. I... never liked, having to rely on other people... I wanted to prove that I could take care of myself... In the end I couldn't even do that and snapped at you when you helped me... " As she said that, images of Chie flashed through my mind. I remembered that time when she was angry at me for helping her against some punks. This situation is a tad different but still... "I was really surprised when you yelled at me. But, I guess I was also a bit happy. To know that I had a friend who cared about me like that. So, I know it may be a bit late to say that but... Thank you." She finally finished, letting out a breath of relief at finally explaining everything.

"Apology accepted." I said. "And you're welcome." I added soon after. It was good to know that all this was behind us now. Though to be honest I was a bit angry at myself. Maybe I had act a little bit too much like a jerk toward Yukari., and should've talk to her before like Hamuko told me. I sighed and stood up. "Wait here for a second please." She shot me a questioning glance but nodded anyway. I quickly made my way back to the florist and bought a whole bunch of white and pink gerberas. It's not like money was a problem anymore after all. Flowers in hand I returned toward the bench. I had to smirk a little when I saw Yukari blush from the distance. "Here." I said handing her the flowers.

"W-What? W-Why?" She stuttered, her blush still present. I shrugged.

"Let's just say I felt like it and we'll leave it at that."

"Thank you..." She muttered.

"Think nothing of it. You should take them back to the dorm, wouldn't want to damage them now?"

"You're right. Wanna go home together?" She asked me a bit shyly. I had to shook my head in the negative at the question.

"No, sorry, I have somewhere to go before I can return to the dorm."

"Oh, alright. I'll see you at home then. Bye Souji-kun, and thanks." She then left toward home, holding the flowers close to herself. Well, I suppose it went rather well. Now, It was time to go visit the bookstore.

* * *

Bookworms

As I entered the store I noted that as usual there wasn't much customers present. It was a good thing for me as I wouldn't want to disturb Bunkichi and Mitsuko during their work. Speaking of which, I spotted Bunkichi a little farther in the store and made my way there.

"Hello, Bunkichi-san." I greeted the elderly man. He turned toward me with a smile on his face.

"Ah, Souji-chan it's good to see you back. Though I'm afraid Mitsuko isn't here for the moment." He seemed to look behind me for a moment. "Oh? You didn't come with Hamuko-chan today too? Don't tell me you two are fighting each other?" He asked with concern. I chuckled a bit.

"No, of course not." Well, she did seem a little upset back at school but I don't think she was angry at me specifically. Though my reply seemed to put Bunkichi at ease.

"That's good. It would be a shame if anything were to happen to a cute couple like yourselves." Again with that? I groaned a little.

"Bunkichi-san! I already told you the two of us aren't like that..." Yeah, totally not like that. We're just friend. It's true that I feel more connection to her than any other person at the dorm, but it doesn't mean anything. She's also the only friend with who I can share a bit of my past without worry. Also the only one who would let me sleep on her lap... Raaaah! God dammit! I had finally managed to suppress that memory! I took a deep breath. "We're just friend." I finally said. "Besides, it's not like I really would have the time for a relationship like this..." I said with a wry smile.

"Oh? And why is that?" Inquired Bunkichi.

"I just had a lot of things on my mind since I arrived here. And even more things to take care of..." I said, repeating nearly word for word what I already told to Kenji some time ago. And that was true. I had to get stronger before anything else. Strong enough to bring my friends back and to protect them all. My love life was the least of my worries at the moment. "I'm...Better off being alone, at least for now." I said, nodding to myself. Bunkichi was looking at me with an uncharacteristic frown on his face.

"I don't know why you're so serious about this Souji-chan, but closing yourself off from others is never a good solution." Closing myself off? Was I really? Depends how you see it. It's not as if I was acting all emo or anything like that, I just didn't want to get into this kind of relationship with anyone yet. I didn't have any problem with going out on some random date, but the idea of actually being serious about it? I just couldn't. Deep inside, I knew why. Fear. Fear of getting close. Fear of forming a bond stronger than anything before. And most of all: Fear of losing it. Maybe it was cowardice on my part. "Believe this old man. If you continue on this way, there will soon come a time when you will regret your decision Souji-chan." Damn. What's up with Bunkichi being so insightful today. I miss the old man who couldn't even remember my name. I let out a sigh. Regret huh?

"Maybe you're right..." I said quietly. "I guess you gave me a lot to think about. I'm sorry, I came here to talk and ended up bothering you with my problem." I told him with a slight bow.

"Oh oh! It's alright Souji-chan! As long as I could be of some help." I gave a slight smile.

"You were. Thank you."

**Hierophant: Rank 3**

"_Thou art I... And I am thou..."_

"_Thou shalt have our blessing when thou choosest to create a Persona of the Hierophant Arcana..."_

_

* * *

_

Iwatodai Dorm: Souji's room

Finally, I was in my room and away from the others. This evening has been rather... weird, to say the least. For starter I had to listen to Junpei's questioning about my 'date' this afternoon. It took a lot of my self control not to kill the guy on the spot, though I'm pretty sure he was doing this on purpose to get back at me for the 'water incident'. Yukari just stayed quiet for the most part, though I was greatly perturbed by the glance she kept stealing at me. I had already enough of the stalker act with Mitsuru. And finally, I had to deal with a murderous looking Hamuko.

Right now, I was sitting on my bed, starring at my phone. I was replaying today's conversation with Bunkichi in my head. After a long while, I let out a sigh and finally grabbed my phone.

From: _Souji_

To: _Hamuko_

_Still awake?_

I pressed the send button and waited for her reply.

**Beep. Beep.**

From: _Hamuko_

To: _Souji_

_Yes. Why?_

_.  
_

From: _Souji_

_To: Hamuko_

_Wanna hang out after school tomorrow?_

**Beep. Beep.**

From: _Hamuko_

To: _Souji_

_Dunno. Why aren't you asking Yukari._

I winced as I read her response. That was quite the low blow. Oh well, time to use my trump card.

From: _Souji_

To: _Hamuko_

_'Cause it's you I want to talk with. Come on, I'll even continue the story from last time!_

**Beep. Beep.**

From: _Hamuko_

To: _Souji_

_Fine. But you're treating me to some food._

I smiled at her answer.

From: _Souji_

To: _Hamuko_

_Deal._

_

* * *

_

Chapter 7 End

Oh. My. God. A chapter! ...Didn't I do this once before? Anyway, you're certainly wondering something along the line of 'What took you so fucking long?'. Well, the answer is simple: A lot of shit happened to me. I won't write all of it, but to give you a few example: My old PC is dead, I lost all my data(and everything I had already prepared for this story), I got sick for 2 weeks, got better, and got sick 2 days after, again.

On the good side: I managed to buy SMT: Strange Journey! Damn this game rocks. Didn't finish it yet but I'm not too far from the end... I think. Alright, enough with my boring life. Back to the story:

This chapter is not my best, I know I say that each time, but that's really what I think. I didn't put much of humor in it, as I wanted to develop a little the mentality of Souji. I've wondered if it was too soon to start the whole date thing, but figured it was alright seeing as it will be be spread on several months. Once again no full moon shadow. I know this is slow but please bear with me.

**Drasonz:** Concerning Nanako's mom? I guess we'll just see.

**Deidara'sgirl19:** I think that's pretty much the same thing I did on my first playthrough x) It was a real pain to level up.

Question Time!

**When is the next chapter?:** Hum... I pretty much have it in my head, so I just need to write it. I'll try not to be too long.

**When are you planning to write the full moon battle: **Not next chapter. Probably the one after that.

I thank you guys for taking the time to let a review. I'll see you next time!


	8. Chapter 8

Disclaimer: I do not own Persona 3, P3P, Persona 4

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**Chapter 8:**

School Grounds 05/01/2009 (Friday)

As I opened my door this morning I was greeted by both Hamuko and Yukari. Nothing really unusual by now. Hamuko seemed to be back to her cheerful self and I was extremely grateful for that. The walk to school was rather calm, with Yukari doing most of the talking. Though to be honest, I was only barely listening to her.

"And so, as that person put it...Yikes, we're at school already?" Huh. Didn't noticed either. "That reminds me, it's gotten so warm lately. Well, I guess today is the start of May after all." Damn...

"It's been one month already... One month since I arrived here... Time sure moves fast..." I muttered. Inwardly though my mind was racing. There was only 8 months left until the coming of Nyx. I hated to say this, but I didn't feel like I had accomplished much during the past month. My SR had only slightly increased and I was nowhere near strong enough to go into the TV world by myself. I sighed. Maybe I should try to see things more positively. I mean, I could now cast Fusion spell. S.E.E.S was slowly starting to improve, be it teamwork or personal experience. I had gained two new skills and was well on my way to unlock others. Yeah. Maybe I wasn't doing so bad after all.

"Seriously! A lot happened!" Continued Yukari. "Ya know, it doesn't seems like the number of apathy syndrome cases has been decreasing lately..." I knew that of course. In fact, the number of cases were slightly increasing. Which could only mean that there was a lot more shadows running amok in Iwatodai than usual. And I knew from past experience that when too much Shadows gather together, a big one was bound to appear. I needed to get the team ready and fast. "We're the only ones who can fight the Shadows, so... I guess we should train more, so we're ready if anything like THAT comes up again." Huh. Guess we thought the same thing. "...Me especially. I don't wanna be a burden on everyone else." I groaned at that.

"You're not a burden so stop thinking like that. But I agree with you. We may need to increase our training. Because one of 'them' will definitely appear in the coming days." Both Hamuko and Yukari stopped walking as I announced that. I turned toward them and decided to explain my reasoning before they could question me. "The number of apathy syndromes are directly related to the number of Shadows running freely around Iwatodai. I've been keeping track of it. When we defeated that big Shadow one month ago, the number of apathy syndromes suddenly dropped. Some people were even cured. Ever since then, the number has been slowly but surely increasing. It is only a matter of time until theses Shadows merge together to create one of 'them'. Maybe one week, two at best." I quickly noticed there worried expression. "Don't worry, we'll definitely be ready when the time comes. The last Shadow took us by surprise. It will not happen again. Besides, we are far stronger than before. Have some faith in yourselves and everything will be fine." I told them with a smile. It seemed to calm them down, if only a little. "Come on, we're going to be late if we stay here." And with that we resumed our walk toward the school.

* * *

Classroom

Class was finished for today. For some reason the whole team was gathered around my desk.

"FYI, Akihiko-san's at the hospital getting a checkup." Announced Junpei. A damn shame I wasn't able to cast a Diarama spell at the moment. It would have been more than enough to heal his injuries, the normal Dia spell being too weak for this task. "He called me earlier, and asked me to bring him something. Yup, he knows who to count on."

"He only asked you cuz you don't have anything else to do after school." That's harsh Yukari.

"H-Hey! I resent that! Besides I'm part of the Kendo team now!" And thanks to that you finally stopped using your katana like a baseball bat.

"*Giggle* I'm just kidding. So, what did he want you to bring?" Asked Yukari.

"The class roster for 2-E" I perked up at that.

"What's he want that for?" Junpei shrugged at Yukari's question.

"Maybe Mitsuru-senpai and Akihiko-senpai found another Persona-User here in school." I told them. All eyes turned toward me.

"Y-You really think so?" Junpei asked me. I shrugged.

"I dunno. The best way to find out would be to directly ask our Senpai. But yeah, it's definitely a possibility." I explained.

"Well... I don't have practice today, so I'll come with you." Yukari said to Junpei before turning her gaze toward me. "You're coming too right?" She asked me with a smile. I closed my eyes for a second to think about it. I had already made some plans with Hamuko but I really wanted to know if we had found another Persona-user. Besides I also needed to know about Akihiko's current condition and if he would be battle ready for the next 'Boss' Shadow. I opened my eyes and turned my head toward Hamuko.

"You mind if we make a quick detour?" I asked her. She shook her head in the negative.

"It's fine with me. I'd like to get some answers too. Besides, It's not like we can't go elsewhere after we're done at the hospital!" She announced cheerfully. I smiled at her and nodded in thanks. I tried my best to ignore the glare Yukari was sending at Hamuko. Though, it didn't seemed to bother her much if the sly smirk on her face was any indication. Of course, Junpei chose this moment to make himself know.

"Hahahaha! Dude! Two girls in two days! You're da man!" He quickly shut up when Yukari turned her glare toward him.

* * *

Hospital

It didn't took us long to arrive at the hospital. I let Junpei lead the way, not knowing where Akihiko's room was. Probably a bad idea, 'cause the guy in the room we currently were in, was definitely not Akihiko. The guy had messy brown hair that reached a little past his neck. He was wearing a red trench-coat as well as a black beanie ans seemed to be glaring at us. Yeah. He was definitely glaring at us.

"Umm..Is... Akihiko-senpai...? ...In this room? By any chance?" Asked Junpei after an awkward silence. The guy didn't have to answer as Akihiko himself entered the room.

"What are all of you guy's doing here?" Demanded Akihiko. I shrugged.

"We came to see how you were doing." I told him simply. I'd rather wait for the other guy to leave before asking about Persona and Shadows.

"I'm just here for a checkup."

"Is that it Aki?" Asked the still unknown guy in a rough voice.

"Yes. Thanks." Akihiko answered with a nod.

"Tch. I don't have time for this shit." As the guy was about to leave the room, he stopped to look at me. "You..." He started. I didn't noticed until now but Kanzeon seemed to react to this guy somehow. Was he a Persona-User? Oh well, only one way to find out. I channeled some SP through my eyes.

Shinjiro Aragaki, **Spiritual Rank:** N/A

**Arcana:** Moon

**Persona:** Castor **Resistance:** None / **Weakness:** None

**Skills:** Regenerate 1, Fatal End, Counter

I frowned inwardly. It made absolutely no sense. This person, Shinjiro Aragaki, was clearly a Persona-User. Yet, his SR was non-existent. Though it does explain why Kanzeon only got something until he was this close to me. The second thing that bothered me was the identity of his Persona. Castor, a mortal, brother to Pollux, an immortal. I didn't remember much besides the fact that Castor died in some kind of ambush or something among the line. Not really a good omen.

"What the hell are you supposed to be...?" Shinjiro asked me, probably referring to my eyes. I had to give the guy some credit. He barely flinched after seeing them change color.

"A monster in human skin." I answered, keeping my face completely blank.

"Is that so..." We both stared at each others for a moment until he finally left the room.

"W-What was that about?" Asked a slightly freaked out Junpei. I shrugged.

"Dunno. It sounded like a pretty badass thing to say on the moment." I said, nodding to myself while ignoring the incredulous looks everyone was sending at me. Though I immediately turned back to my serious self. I looked at Akihiko. "Akihiko-senpai, how close are you to Shinjiro-san?" He seemed a little surprised at my question. Or maybe it was because I knew Shinjiro's name.

"We're childhood friend, why?" I nodded at his answer.

"You may want to keep a close eye on him then. Remember what I told you guys about the identity of your Personae and how they relate to your own life?" I got a nod in response. "Shinjiro-san is no exception. And the story of his Persona is definitely not a good one. There is also the fact that his power seemed to be locked away. My eyes were able to see his Persona, but no SR at all." I let out a sigh. "I don't know what it means but I thought it should be better for you to know." I watched as Akihiko closed his eyes, seemingly in deep thought at what I had just told him. When he finally opened them he nodded at me in thanks.

"Thanks. I appreciate it."

"W-Wait a minute!" Intervened Junpei. "If this guy's a Persona-User, why isn't he part of S.E.E.S?" I was curious about that too, but it seemed unlikely that Akihiko would answer to this.

"It's... complicated." Knew it... "By the way Junpei, did you bring what I asked?"

"Oh yeah. Here." Junpei handed the class roster to Akihiko.

"Found a new Persona-user?" I finally asked. Akihiko shook his head.

"We don't know for sure. Guess we'll just have to wait and see. Well, let's get going." Akihiko announced, before punching the air with his 'injured' arm, several times.

"Uh, you shouldn't move your arm..." Said Junpei, after seeing Akihiko's little display.

"It's nothing. I've wasted enough time already. I need to get back to my training." Well, as long as he made sure not to go overboard...

"By the way, Senpai, why boxing?" Asked Yukari out of the blue.

"You mean, why did I choose that sport? Well... It's not the sport itself I like, I just wanted to learn how to fight. I know what it's like to feel powerless... And I don't want to feel that way again..." I could totally relate to this feeling... I let out a sigh and was about to excuse both myself and Hamuko, until said girl grabbed my arm and started to drag me out of the room.

"I'm sorry but Souji-kun and I have somewhere else to go now, so we'll be leaving. We'll see you guys later!" Hamuko announced before pulling me even harder despite my protests.

It wasn't until we were out of the hospital that Hamuko finally released my arm.

"So... Any reason for you to nearly tear my arm off? Or am I to assume that you're just that hungry?" I asked her with a playful smirk. She seemed a little embarrassed but shook her head at my question.

"Not really. It's just that I've been waiting for a moment for you to tell me the rest of your story and I didn't want to waste anymore time." I nodded.

"Fair enough. Any place in particular you want to go?"

"How about some coffee for a change?" I raised an eyebrow at that.

"You sure? You do know I'm paying, right?"

"Precisely. If we go eat something now you'll pass half of your time stuffing your face instead of talking." ...Harsh.

"I don't eat THAT much Hamuko-chan..." I told her, to which she send me a '_are you kidding me_' kind of look. "All right, all right. I may eat a little more than a normal person. Still, I do know how to show some restraint when I need to. Though, if you're fine with only some coffee who am I to argue. Do you know a good place for that?" She gave me a nod along with her trademark smile.

"There's the Chagall Cafe at Paulownia Mall. Come on let's go!" And with that she grabbed my arm once again. I went along with it, trying to calm my dangerously rising heartbeat at the same time.

* * *

Chagall Cafe

I got to say, maybe coming here wasn't such a bad idea. The shop had a really nice atmosphere and the coffee was damn good. However for some unknown reason, I felt like I was being watched each time I took a sip of said drink... Nah, probably my imagination.

"So..." I started, gaining Hamuko's attention. "Where did I stop last time?"

"You told me how Yosuke-san had to face his own Shadow, resulting in him obtaining his own Persona." I nodded.

"Right... After Yosuke got his Persona, we decided to go over everything we had learned on the other world so far." I raised a finger. "First, the Midnight Channel appear to serve as a warning of some sort for when someone is trapped on the other side." I raised another finger. "Second, when someone is thrown into the TV world, it creates a place that posses a deep connection to that person's life. For example, the appearance of Saki Konichi, the second victim, created a perfect replica of the shopping district, where her family's business was located." Another finger. "Third and last of all, when the fog appear in Inaba, the fog disappear in the Shadow World, resulting in the Shadows going berserk, and killing anyone in sight. However as long as the fog was present on the other side, Shadows would simply ignore any normal person, which led us to believe that maybe... Maybe we could save the people thrown into this world before the Shadows attacked them. With that thought in mind, we left the TV world for the day, but not before Teddie warned us that we were under no circumstances to use another TV than the one a Junes to come back." I finished the lengthy explanation.

"It's only logical I suppose." Hamuko remarked. "It would be the same as trying to enter Tartarus by staying into the school at midnight. You could end up pretty much anywhere." She paused for a moment. "Still... was that really just luck for you to stumble across a safe place as well as Teddie-san on your first trip?" She asked with a rare frown. That comment brought a wry smile to my face. It was most definitely not luck. It was without a doubt '**her**' doing.

"I highly doubt it was luck..." I told her with a sigh but didn't gave her further explanation. "When we got out of the TV we were met with a very, very angry Chie." I chuckled as I remembered how she threw that rope in Yosuke's face. "We didn't really had a chance to explain the situation to her as she ran away after getting back at Yosuke. Anyway, after all of this, I went home. My uncle wasn't here that night, with him being part of the police and all that. So, I spent the whole evening watching TV with my little cousin. That was when I saw a news about the Amagi inn. They were talking about the murder case and how the current manager had stepped aside in favor of her daughter. Daughter who turned out to be no other than Yukiko. The interview itself was pretty boring, but seeing Yukiko wearing a kimono made it worthwhile I guess." I said with a shrug.

"How is that relevant to the story?" Hamuko asked me with a growl. I smirked.

"Glad you asked." I turned serious again. "It was raining today too. So I decided to check the midnight channel once again... A person appeared on it. A girl, wearing a kimono."

"You mean Yukiko-san was on the midnight channel?" I shook my head.

"It was impossible to tell at that time. The image was far too blurry. When I met with Yosuke the day after, he told me that he pretty much saw the same thing as I did. He also told me that he was now able to enter the TV world on its own. From this, we deduced that anyone able to summon a Personae could enter the other world."

"Which is wrong." Hamuko commented.

"Partially." I admitted. "With what I know as of today, I can safely affirm that only those who faced their own Shadows are able to enter the other world."

"You didn't though." Hamuko pointed.

"I'm a special case." A fact that I still hated to that day.

"How so?" 'Cause a freaking deity decided to give me a fragment of her power. I can't tell her that though.

"It's complicated... Don't get me wrong, I'll eventually end up telling you, but not now..." Thankfully she dropped the issue. Probably picked up on my mood about that subject. "When we met Chie at school, she appeared to be rater panicked due to the fact that Yukiko wasn't present at school that day. She started to question us about the Midnight Channel and how we thought it was related to that other world. She then told us how she thought that the person on TV last night was Yukiko. For some reason Chie was able to see a much more stable image than us and managed to recognized the kimono on TV as the same one Yukiko usually wear while working at the inn. She told us how she tried to email her since the day before but didn't get any responses. We then started to explain to her every information we had gathered about the other world, which of course, made her panic even more. She tried to contact Yukiko through her cell phone, but no result." I made a slight pause here. "Chie then decided to try and call the inn directly... Only to learn that..." I looked at Hamuko straight in the eyes with one of my most serious expression. She was leaning forward in apprehension, waiting for me to continue. "...She was perfectly fine and was just too busy running the inn to answer her own phone." I was unable to keep my laughter at seeing Hamuko's expression turn to disbelief. It quickly turned to anger and I was forced to stop laughing as she kicked me in the shin. Hard.

"You stupid idiot! Don't scare me like that!" She yelled at me, entirely ignoring the stares we were getting, not that I cared either. I continued to chuckle despite the pain.

"S-Sorry! I guess that was a little mean of me." I took a deep breath to calm myself down. Once that was done I resumed talking. "While Yukiko was fine, it didn't change the fact that the Midnight Channel did show us something. We needed to make sure that no one was on the other side. So we went to see Teddie after school. After some dozen of 'bear pun', we finally learned that there was no one trapped in the Shadow World at this moment. It didn't do much to reassure us though as it would be raining again that night. Which mean, another Midnight Channel. And all of us were in for a '_Big surprise_'."

* * *

_Good evening! Tonight, Princess Yukiko has a big surprise! I'm gonna score myself a hot stud! Welcome to not a dream, not a hoax! Princess Yukiko's hunt for her Prince charming, and I came prepared! I've got my lacy unmentionables on, stacked from top to bottom! I'm out to catch a whole harem and the best of the lot is gonna be all mine! Well, here I go!_

* * *

Hamuko was looking at me with an unreadable expression after what I just told her.

"Seriously?" She finally asked after a much awkward silence. I nodded.

"Seriously." I answered simply, to which she frowned.

"It doesn't make sense. From what little you told me about Yukiko-san, she doesn't seems to be the type to act like that." I nodded with a smile, Hamuko was really sharp when she wanted to.

"And you would be right. It wasn't Yukiko. Well, not entirely."

"...Her Shadow?" She asked me. I hesitated for a moment here. It was far too early to explain to Hamuko how the Midnight Channel really functioned.

"It's a little more complicated than that. Sorry but once again this is something that will be explained as the story goes on." Hamuko gave me a rather reluctant nod. "After watching the Midnight Channel I received a phone call from a panicked Yosuke, we decided to meet over at Junes the day after." I let out a dry chuckle here. "I learned something very important that day. Magician Arcana are stupid." I nodded sagely. I continued after seeing Hamuko's confused face. "You see, after our last encounter with the Shadows, Yosuke thought it would be a good idea to take some weapons with us. But in his infinite wisdom, he also decided that it would be a even greater idea to bring them at the food court. Imagine my surprise when I met Yosuke with a katana in his right hand and a aikuchi in his left. I think the worst, is how casually he was acting about the whole thing. I mean, it's not like there was a murderer on the loose at the moment or anything..." Hamuko was barely restraining her laughter at this point. "Don't laugh yet! I'm not even at the best part. No, no, no. After questioning me about my taste in weaponry, Yosuke decided to go through some very 'elaborate' sword kata. So he started waving his weapons around. Still in the food court. Filled with people. And here comes the best part! A cop just so happened to patrol around here! After calling for reinforcement the cop quickly made his way toward us. Imagine my surprise when said cop was insensitive to Yosuke's explanation, I mean: '_We're just two ordinary kids who likes weapons_' made perfectly sense to me." That did it. Hamuko couldn't hold it anymore and started laughing like crazy while holding her side. I chuckled along with her. It was anything but funny on the moment sure, but now that I remember it, I couldn't deny how humorous this situation was. When Hamuko finally calmed down she asked me a most obvious question.

"So you got arrested?" I nodded.

"Yep. They were a little rough though. Probably because Yosuke's attempt to explain himself by waving his weapons around, again... They thought we were resisting arrest so..." I shook my head with a slight smile as Hamuko laughed at me once again. "Thankfully my uncle bailed us out, thought not before giving us a sermon. It was during said talk that we overheard a conversation between two police officers. Apparently, Yukiko Amagi had disappeared. After my uncle dismissed us we started making our way out of the police station, only to bump into another officer. Turn out this guy was my uncle's partner." It took all my will power to keep the venom off my voice at this point. "Tohru Adachi. Yosuke and I decided to try our luck and ask him about Yukiko. What we learned was disturbing to say the least... Yukiko was reported missing since last evening. And, there was a rumor floating around. Apparently the cops thought Yukiko may have been the one behind the murder, and that she may be hiding because of that... Bunch of dumbass." I muttered the last part.

"What? Why would they think that? That's just stupid!" Complained a slightly pissed off Hamuko. I needed to explain that too...

"Well, it goes like this. The first victim, Mayumi Yamano, was staying at the Amagi inn the night she was murdered. Apparently she had been bitching to the manager about the staff of the inn being rude or something, the stress caused the manager, Yukiko's mother, to collapse. To the cops it was supposedly enough to gave her a motive."

"Wait a moment here." Hamuko cut me off. "Mayumi Yamano? The TV announcer?"

"Yeah. What about it?" I asked, confused.

"Souji-kun. Mayumi Yamano is alive..." ….Holy shit! That right, until now I kept referring to her as 'the first victim' or something along the line, it's the first time I actually gave her name. And of course due to the time travel she was very much alive. Crap, crap, crap! I couldn't tell Hamuko about this yet. I needed an excuse and fast, cause the look Hamuko was giving me was damn right scary. "Care to explain, _Souji-kun_?" She asked me with a '_sweet_' smile.

"It's... complicated?" What the hell? That's all I could come up with? Besides I used that excuse twice already! I watched in slight fear as the '_smile_' on Hamuko's face spread more and more. She then started to move one of her arm, I was a little confused and embarrassed when she grabbed my hand with her own. It didn't last long. Little by little she started to increase the pressure on my hand to the point that I was sure I could hear my bones creaking. Enhanced body my ass! She wasn't even using SP to reinforce her grip yet she was slowly but surely destroying my hand! The smile on her face kept widening and I was seriously wondering if it was even humanly possible to '_smile'_ like this. I soon reached the point where I was forced to keep channeling a Dia spell through my hand in an attempt to soothe the pain and prevent myself from screaming.

"I'm waiting, _Souji-kun_..." Whispered Hamuko.

"W-Wait a moment here Hamuko-chan." I said, my voice shaking a little because of the pain. "I know you want me to tell you everything just now, but I have to go through the whole story for you to understand. I know that Mayumi Yamano is alive as of today, but I swear it, everything will make sense by the time I finish my story, so please bear with me for now." Please let it work! I sighed in relief when my hand was released. I started to increase the amount of SP I was channeling through my Dia spell. Hamuko could really be frightening when she wanted to. When I was fully healed, I glanced at her. "Remind me never to get on your bad side..." I muttered.

"So what happened after you learned about Yukiko-san's disappearance?" She asked me as if nothing had happened. I sighed and went along with it.

"As we were heading out of the station we met with Chie. Turned out she had been looking for us. We brought her up to date about Yukiko, and from there decided to go into the TV world. However, we didn't have any weapon anymore. Thankfully Chie had an idea for that. We ended up following her to the shopping district. Strangely enough, there was a forge-smith located here."

"This story is getting weirder and weirder by the second." Complained Hamuko with a sigh. I chuckled a little.

"It's not that weird when you think about it. I mean, back then we needed weapons, and it is the same for S.E.E.S. now. I was confused when Old man Daidara, the owner of the shop, told me that he could craft all kind of stuff if I was to bring him the '_necessary materials_'. Turns out he was talking about Shadows remain. And I also learned not to long ago that he is the one crafting the weapons for S.E.E.S." I explained to a shocked Hamuko.

"You mean he's a Persona-User?" I shrugged.

"Dunno. But at the very least he must be aware that Shadows do exist. Anyway, after buying some weapons we immediately went to the food court."

"Because of course being arrested once wasn't enough?" She deadpanned. I chuckled.

"I'm not Yosuke. Chie and I had found the perfect solution to hide our weapons from view. We..." I paused a little to build the suspense. "Hid them under our school uniform!" I declared proudly.

"...And it actually worked?"

"Well I'm not in jail, so yeah. Once in the TV world, Teddie confirmed that there was someone trapped in here. Furthermore, said person appeared not long after our last conversation with Teddie. After following Teddie's indication we arrived at a castle, the same one seen on the Midnight Channel. Just like Saki Konichi before, this place was created by Yukiko. This, was the first dungeon we would have to go through in the Shadow World."

"First dungeon..?" Hamuko suddenly cut me off.

"Let me put it this way. You guys got Tartarus, we, got the dungeon created by the people thrown into the Shadow World."

"...Strange how you say this as if you weren't part of S.E.E.S." Hamuko pointed out. I sighed. Yet another mistake on my part.

"Anyway, after Teddie informed us that the castle was filled with Shadows, Chie got worried and ran off on her own, so we went after her. I got to say, the Shadows from Tartarus and the other world are really different. Would you believe me if I told you that we even fought against some Gundams? Aaaah, I remember that one in the 8-bit dungeon. Twenty feet tall, giant ass sword. Bastard nearly cleaved me in half more time than I can recall." I smiled wistfully. "Good times, good times." I said, completely ignoring Hamuko horrified look. I shook my head to clear off my thought. "Sorry, I got a bit off track here. When we finally caught up to Chie, we found her staring off into space. Then, we all started to hear a voice. It was Yukiko's. Or should I say, her inner thought. She was talking about how she thought of herself as worthless, and how she depended on Chie." I let out a sigh here. "One thing led to another and Chie's Shadow came out. You can guess what happened next. She didn't accept herself, her Shadow went berserk and we had to defeat it." And because of that stupid Shadow I wasn't able to look at a whip the same way ever again. "Once we won, Chie confronted her Shadow, and was finally able to face herself, resulting in her obtaining her Persona."

"I'm starting to see a pattern here." Pointed Hamuko. I laughed at that.

"You have no idea how right you are." I responded.

"So, you went to save Yukiko after that?"

"No. We had to left the dungeon. Chie was exhausted after obtaining her Persona and we had no idea how much further we would have to go to find Yukiko. Besides, she would be safe as long as the fog didn't disappear on this side. After making our way back to the entrance of the TV world we discussed what our next course of action should be. After much discussion it was decided that I should be appointed leader of our little group. And so, the Special Investigation Team(S.I.T.) was officially formed." I finished. I glanced outside of the shop. It was nearly night. "I guess I should stop here for today."

"Again?" Hamuko asked with a groan. I gave her a small smile.

"We have to get ready for Tartarus tonight. I also need to clearly warn everyone about the possibility of an attack in the coming days." Even though Hamuko accepted my explanation I quickly took notice the frown on her face and couldn't help but being bothered by it. I didn't like seeing Hamuko with anything else than a smile on her face. I sighed. "Tell you what, how about we make a quick stop at Hagakure?" She perked up at that. "After all it's not a real date if I don't treat you to dinner at the very least. Besides that give us the occasion to talk about something else than my past." Her frown disappeared almost immediately, replaced by a beaming smile.

"Sure that'd be great!" She exclaimed joyously. I stood up and payed for our coffees. We then made our way to Hagakure where we spent our time doing some small talk while eating our food.

* * *

Iwatodai Dorm: Lounge

"You're back..." Remarked a cold voice as soon as Hamuko and I arrived at the dorm.

"You sure know how to make people feel welcome Mitsuru-senpai." I said sarcastically, and was rewarded by a glare. I ignored it and focused on sensing the people currently in the dorm. I nodded to myself, everyone was here. I summoned Kanzeon, surprising both Mitsuru and Hamuko. Then...

_/- I want everyone in the lounge, **now!** -/ _I had to bite my lips to prevent myself from laughing as my mental call had scared the shit out of everyone not present in the lounge. I knew first hand how it feels like to have a voice suddenly popped in your head and man, I totally understand why Rise had so much fun doing it now. I dismissed Kanzeon, preventing me from hearing anymore curses and insults from Akihiko, Yukari and Junpei. After everyone had arrived and calmed down, I addressed all the member of S.E.E.S. "As some of you may or may not know, over the past month, the number of apathy syndrome cases has been increasing, thus, the chance of a possible Shadow attack as well." I quickly continued, not wanting to be interrupted. "The number of Apathy syndrome cases are directly related to the number of Shadows roaming in Iwatodai. If those Shadows are anything like the ones I've fought before, it won't be long until they merge together to form a monster like the one who attacked the dorm. If that's the case, we probably have one or two weeks before it happens." I finished..

"Why only telling us this now?" Demanded a slightly angry Mitsuru.

"Because I could be wrong. The appearance of the last Shadow could have been due to something completely unrelated. However I refuse to take any unnecessary risk, so I decided that the best course of action would be to warn all of you just in case." I replied calmly.

"So... What are we gonna do?" Questioned Junpei.

"Increase your session in Tartarus would be a good-" Akihiko started.

"No." I cut him immediately. "That would be the worst possible idea. If we increase our session then what? We will engage the Shadow with an exhausted team? We may as well kill ourselves now." I sighed. "The only thing we can do is train on our own time. I'm confident that we're strong enough to take anything that will come at us, but better safe than sorry. If you have free time, go to the roof and train, if only a little. Junpei you can increase your sword skill, Yukari your aim, Hamuko..." I paused thinking about it. "... I have no clue. " I said lamely.

"Thanks..." She replied, her eye twitching.

"Well, at worst we can spar against each other. Experience is always useful after all. It's thanks to that that I've survived to many of Mitsuru's anger fit despite our difference in strength." I quickly ducked, avoiding a Bufu spell. "See? It will also noticeably increase our teamwork if we have a better understanding of our respective fighting style." I finished. Hamuko nodded in agreement.

"Alright. I'm fine with this."

"Good. Now, I want each one of you to go get your things ready. We're going to Tartarus tonight. And I want us to reach the floor below the last Boss Shadow at the very least." And with my announcement done, I made my way toward my room to prepare myself.

* * *

**Chapter 8 End**

Yeah, I know. This chapter doesn't cover much storywise. In fact it is mostly a retelling of P4 story. It is however needed to keep the realism of the story. To compensate though, chapter 9 is already underway and should be out by next Sunday.(Currently at 4k + words. My chapter generally make between 6k and 7k words. And I have already several scenes planned so... you get the picture.)

**An important thing, I'm considering finding a beta. After reading infinitetears review I took notice of how many mistakes I actually make and I would like to try and improve that if someone was actually willing to help me. So if any of you guys feel motivated, PM me or whatever, then we can arrange something on how to do that.**

Now to answer some of the reviews:

**Infinitetears**: Thank you for noticing me about the grammar mistakes. I honestly didn't though I was making that many of it. But as I said it's thanks to that that I decided to take the initiative to try to find a beta to improve the story. As for the paragraph, I will probably keep it as it is, however I will try and change it if it confuse too many people.

**Bobcat86**: A lot of question. Sadly I can't answer all of them if I don't want to spoil the story. I will however answer some of them:

**S. link with Souji/Hamuko:** I don't know yet.

**When will the fight against Izanami take place:** If all goes as planned, maybe one two months before Nyx. This is still subject to change however.

**For the relationships:** Yep, it will be 'mostly' one sided for Yukari and Mitsuru. As for Aigis... huhuhu, you'll see.

**Ryoji:** I do have some plan for him. However I need to put some more thoughts into it.

**Minato:** Hmmm, in a way yes.

**AnimaniacXOX:** I have to disappoint you but it will be strictly Souji/Hamuko. And as I just said on my answer to Bobcat86, Mitsuru/Souji will be mostly onesided. Sorry.

I thank you all for the review(Wow, I passed fifty reviews. ***Cheer!***) and will see you next time! Which mean very soon...


	9. Chapter 9

Disclaimer: I do not own Persona 3, P3P, Persona 4

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**Chapter 9**

Tartarus 05/01/2009 (Friday)

It was currently midnight. The Dark Hour was here. And just as we had planned, we were in Tartarus, ready to begin an intense session of Shadow's hunting. However, before we could start, there was an issue that needed to be addressed.

"So..." I started, looking at Hamuko. Actually everyone was starring at her with all kind of different expression plastered on their faces. "Let me see if I got this straight." I took a deep breath. "The mysterious people from the imaginary world beyond the invisible door, asked of you to fulfill some requests. Requests ranging from 'kill a certain Shadow and bring us back its remain' to 'Please go feed the cat'..." I paused to let my words sink in. "Should you fulfill said request, they will reward you with all kind of items, be it weapons, armor, or even skill cards." I finished, still looking at Hamuko with a blank face. She was fidgeting uncomfortably under the combined stare of all the S.E.E.S members. I changed my expression and gave her a big smile. "All right make sense." I said, surprising everyone.

"Wait, you actually believe this?" Demanded Junpei. I shrugged.

"Why not? Does our situation really make more senses? I mean, we're teenagers investigating an hellish tower that only appear during an hidden time between one day and the next and where normal people turn into coffin. Furthermore, that tower is filled with cosmic horror that can only be defeated by summoning an entity that reside within our subconscious." Silence was my answer. "See? We just need to accept that Hamuko can see something we cannot." Hamuko sent me a grateful smile. If she knew I could see the velvet door though she would kick my ass. I must admit I was curious about those requests, I never got any in all my time as a Persona-user. Except maybe when Margaret asked me to create some special Personae. Oh well, now was not the time for this. We had a tower to climb! "Alright guys, let's move out!"

* * *

Our training that night went extremely well. Everyone was determined to get stronger after learning about the incoming attack. Our objective which consisted of reaching the floor below the boss Shadow was easily completed. I chose not to engage it, preferring to increase our strength even more. By the time we got back to the lobby, we had also gathered the necessary material requested by... Elizabeth I supposed. I don't see what Igor could do with this shit. And I don't see Margaret requesting an hand-held game system... Yeah, definitely Elizabeth. Anyway, we were all surprised when an armor appeared out of nowhere. I took a quick look at it. I briefly wondered if my eyes were deceiving me. I glanced at Hamuko, only to find her blushing. I glanced back to the armor. I coughed and addressed my team.

"I think I speak for everyone here when I say that we need to complete more of those requests." I announced seriously.

"I agree. This armor will prove to be an tremendous help in the upcoming battles." Surprisingly enough, it was Junpei who said that. I'm surprised he even knew what tremendous meant. Akihiko didn't say anything but gave a silent nod in agreement with Junpei's word.

"So now come the question..." I started. "Who, will be the one to wear this magnificent armor?" I asked to no one in particular. "Maybe Hamuko. I mean, she's the one who took the request..." I said, lost in thought at the prospect of Hamuko wearing that armor.

"I'm not wearing... **this**!" Hissed Hamuko while glaring at me. I took an involuntary step backwards after seeing the intensity of her glare.

"W-Why?" I stuttered.

"Do you really need to ask?" She retorted angrily. I glanced at the armor.

"Well, I admit it doesn't cover much but..." I stopped here, Hamuko's look was too frightening for me to continue. "Alright! Alright! I understand." I sighed in disappointment. I turned toward Yukari and gave her a thumbs up. "We're counting on you Yukari!" I sidestepped and avoided an arrow aimed at my head. "I take it it's a no?" Another arrow. I bit my lips. I refused to let an occasion like this slip though my fingers. I had one last option though! I turned toward the last female currently in the lobby of Tartarus. "Mitsuru!" I called. I ignored her glare but did took notice of her embarrassed blush. "It seems like you're the only one who can do this."

"And pray tell why I should do this when I'm not part of the strike team?" She asked with barely contained rage. It was time for my mad acting skill to come in action.

"I've run a quick scan over this armor with Kanzeon." I pointed at said item. "The high cut armor!" I announced proudly. "An 'enchanted' outfit that increase all of your abilities by a small margin! Now as you said, you're not part of the strike team... But! Can you affirm that you have a complete understanding of how Penthesilea scanning abilities do function?" I demanded to Mitsuru.

"I-" She started, but I stopped her immediately.

"The truth is that you don't!" I yelled. "For all you know an increase in your magical prowess could significantly accelerate the scanning process, it could also increase the range in which you can actually sense something!" I stated loudly.

"I refuse to wear this thing just for a 'possibility'!" She snarled at me. I smirked inwardly.

"So you choose to run away from your responsibility!" I retorted. Her eyes widened at my answer. I could almost hear Rise yell: '_You found her weak point! Get ready for an all out attack!_'. "How disappointing of you." I shook my head sadly. "All of us here are ready to face anything in order to protect this city! Yet! When faced with this small choice, you turn your back on us!

"I-I do not-" She stuttered. But I cut her off, again.

"Then prove us wrong! Prove _me_ wrong! Show us that you can make a small sacrifice for the good of the team! **Show us your resolution!**"

"Fine!" She snapped at me. "I'll wear this damn thing so shut up already!" Man, for Mitsuru to actually swear, she was really pissed off. But who cares? I did it! I actually managed to make Mitsuru promise to wear this outfit! I gave her a small smile.

"That's all I was asking." I replied and turned around to face my other teammates. I let out a dark smirk now that Mitsuru couldn't see my face. Junpei and Akihiko were looking at me with both respect and awe. As for the girls... I'll definitely need to watch my back around them now. "Well, let's go home for today!" And thus ended another night in Tartarus.

* * *

Iwatodai Dorm: Souji's room 05/02/2009 (Saturday)

_Knock. Knock._

Oh for the love of god... Not again!

_Knock. Knock._

I heard you the first time, please just go away!

**SLAM SLAM SLAM!**

That's **IT**! I could only take so much of this shit! Screw the school, I'm staying home. Now I had to inform the two girls behind my door of my decision.

"Piss off! I'm skipping class!" I yelled through my door. Maybe that was a little harsh, but it sure did work. Finally I could go back to my peaceful sleep. I was about to cast a Dormina on myself when...

_Stomp Stomp. Stomp._

I briefly wondered who was making that much noise. Bah, who cares anyway?

_Knock. Knock._

You've got to be kidding me...

_Knock. Knock. _

"I told you I'm skipping class!" I yelled once again. Damn. Those two sure were persistent.

_Shhhhhh..._

Huh? That's new... I drowsily opened my eyes to look at the origin of that weird sound.

…

My door was frozen in ice. Nah... I was dreaming right? The only one who could do something like that was... My eyes widen in realization. It wasn't a dream. It was a **nightmare**!

**SMASH!**

I sat up abruptly on my bed as my door was blown into pieces. Then a figure emerged. She had long flowing red hair and piercing crimson eyes. The figure turned her gaze toward me and sent a glare that would make lesser men run in fright.

"What the hell?" I shouted at her.

"Get up." She ordered me coldly. "I will not allow you to break the rules while under my supervision."

"J-Just get out! I'm not even dressed! You perverted woman!" Not that I was naked either but still... She took another look at me, blushed and turned around.

"You have five minutes." Mitsuru stated. And with that she left. I grudgingly stood up from my bed and quickly put my uniform on. I wasn't in the mood to see what Mitsuru would do if I didn't hurry. Before heading out though, I took a quick look at what was left of my door. I crouched down and grabbed a frozen piece of wood.

"Do not worry Door-kun, for you shall be avenged. I'll see to it." I said solemnly to the remain of my door. My eyes flashed with determination. I would get revenge, oh yes I would.

As I left my room I noticed that Hamuko and Yukari were waiting for me at the end of the hallway. They both had a victorious smirk on their faces. Something clicked in my mind. "I just know you did this to get back at me for yesterday." I told them. Seems like they were still a bit angry because of the high cut armor and the fact that Mitsuru was now 'okay' with wearing it.

"I don't see what you mean at all Souji-kun." Answered Hamuko cheerfully. Of course you don't... I groaned and made my way downstairs along with the both of them. Mitsuru was there, waiting for us.

"You're late." She said to me in her usual cold demeanor.

"Oh? You're going to school with us?" I asked, ignoring what she just said.

"I am merely making sure that you will not run away." What am I? A kid?

"Sounds a lot like an excuse to me. You know if you wanted to go to school with us you could've just say so." I said with a shrug.

"I do not-"

"Alright let's go!" I exclaimed, totally ignoring Mitsuru.

* * *

School Grounds

I let out a long yawn.

"Damn. Why do I have to go to school when I could be sleeping in my bed?" I mumbled sleepily. Which earned me a glare from Mitsuru. "By the way, how did you freeze my door?" I asked her. "I know you can cast Bufu spells without your Persona, given how many times you tried to kill me with them. But this, it's definitely new." I paused, thinking about it. "In fact it could even be considered shape manipulation." I pointed out.

"You're not the only one who have been training." She stated haughtily. I raised an eyebrow at that.

"Seems like it. Still, I'm impressed you went that far without any tips." I commented.

"No thanks to you." I winced at her answer.

"I have my reasons for that." I retorted. "So long as you cannot do this." I raised a finger and summoned a spinning card on top of it. "I refuse to help you guys." Mitsuru eyes widened at seeing me summon a card in daylight. She quickly grabbed my hand with her own, probably to make me cancel my summon.

"Do not do that in public!" She yelled loudly, gaining the attention of all the students on their ways to school. I smirked.

"Do what? Holding hands?" I had dismissed my card the moment she took hold of my hand. I had used Kanzeon abilities beforehand to make sure that nobody was looking in our direction while I summoned my card. So now, it actually looked as if the both of us were simply holding hands. She quickly let go of it.

"Y-You tricked me..." She hissed through gritted teeth.

"And quite easily at that." I added, to further anger her. She was about to snap at me but did not had the chance as Yukari's voice cut her off.

"You two sure do get along well." She said with narrowed eyes, looking at Mitsuru and I. Hamuko was doing the same, although she was mostly looking at me.

"We do not!" Mitsuru responded harshly. I glanced at the sky.

"Is that what they call a 'love-hate' relationship?" I mused out loud. It earned me a discreet elbow in the ribs, courtesy of Mitsuru. Damn that hurt.

From that point the walk to school was silent. Which quickly reminded me of the fact that I was fucking tired. I yawned once again.

"I want to sleep..." I muttered tiredly.

"You know, I remember you saying that you weren't a morning person, but I never imagined that it was to that extent." Said Hamuko. I let out a sigh. In all my life, there was only one person who ever managed to wake me up without any trouble. I sighed again, thinking about Nanako.

* * *

(Flashback)

I was barely awake. I had just destroyed another alarm clock and was about to go back to sleep.

_Tap! Tap! Tap! Tap!_

Someone was running in the hallway, I heard my door opening itself and...

"Wake up big bro!" A girl's voice yelled.

_Bam!_

"Gaaah!" I cried out in pain. Nanako had just slammed her head into my stomach with all of her strength. Then she gave me a hug.

"'Morning!" She exclaimed with a big smile.

(End Flashback)

* * *

And it was the same thing, every single day...

"I miss my morning hugs..." I muttered.

"Morning hugs...?" Questioned Hamuko with a 'smile'. I edged away from her. Last time she smiled like this she nearly broke my hand.

"Well you see it's... Oh we're at school already! Too bad the explanation will have to wait!" I said quickly before increasing my pace, forcing the others to follow. Because of this, we soon arrived in front of our classroom. And Mitsuru was still here, which of course brought a lot of attention. And a lot of glare for me from the guys. It however provided me with the perfect occasion to get back at Mitsuru for my door.

"I have no more reason to stay so I'll be taking my leave." Said Mitsuru curtly. "You two..." She called to Hamuko and Yukari, gaining their attention. "I'll have to ask of you to make sure Seta do not leave the school early." I place a hand on my heart in mock hurt.

"Mitsuru-chan!" I announced loudly. Even more people started to look our way. "I'm hurt! You really have so little faith in me?"

"Do. Not. Call me that!" She hissed I did my best to look genuinely confused.

"You mean just Mitsuru? Well, I think we're moving a little fast to already drop the honorific but alright if that's what you want. You know, when you woke me up this morning to come to school with you, I thought it would be a bother. But I was wrong! I really don't regret coming to school today, if only to enjoy this very moment!" All the students were whispering loudly between themselves after hearing what I just said. It was terribly difficult for me not to laugh while looking at Mitsuru's enraged face. Hehehe, you will learn never to force me to come to school... "Well, I have to go in class now so... I'll see you tonight!"

…

Complete silence. Everything seemed to stop for a moment. I coughed.

"I mean at the dorm. Yeah, the dorm... No hidden meaning whatsoever." I nodded to myself and quickly went inside my classroom. You have been avenged, Door-kun!

"You know she's going to kill you right?" Remarked Hamuko, once Mitsuru was out of earshot. I shrugged.

"Story of my life. All the women I meet try one day or another to kill me anyway." I sat down on my seat. Waited five second. And stood up. "Whoa, what a hard day of work it was! Ja ne!" I then made a run for it. I had a door to replace there was no way I would spent half of my day here. Now that I realize, maybe Mitsuru was right about keeping an eye on me on the way to school...

* * *

Iwatodai Dorm: Souji's room

It was a little past lunch and I was finally finished with installing my new door.

**Beep. Beep.**

I took out my phone.

From: _Hamuko_

To: _Souji_

_Going to bookworms this afternoon, want to tag along?_

I didn't had anything planned today, so I decided to accept Hamuko's invitation. One minute after sending my reply...

**Beep. Beep.**

From: _Hamuko_

To: _Souji_

_Btw, Mitsuru is rushing back to the dorm._

Oh crap. I quickly used Kanzeon to see where Mitsuru was. She was nearly there... It was alright though, I had an idea to evade her. I grabbed a post-it and wrote a quick message for Mitsuru. It read as such:

_For: Mitsuru-chan_

_Hey, if you don't know already, I managed to ditch school. Waiting for ya on the roof!_

_Signed: Seta-sama_

I slammed the note on my door. Then promptly hid under my bed. It was at the very same moment that the door of the lounge slammed open. I could hear hurried footsteps making their way toward my room. I was using Kanzeon to try and hide my presence to the best of my ability.

**BAM!**

My door was now open. I mentally cursed as she nearly broke this one too. I could see her carefully walking around my room, like a predator searching for its prey. A predator with very very nice legs. She went back toward my door, took notice of the post-it, then ran toward the roof. The moment she was on the girl's floor, I crawled out from under my bed and ran downstairs, trying to keep the noise at the minimum. She arrived on the roof when I was in the lounge. The doors of the dorm were still open so I quickly rushed outside. I went in the middle of the street, glanced toward the roof and...

"Mitsuru!" I yelled. I saw her face appear at the edge of the roof. "Remember this as the day you nearly caught the great Seta-sama!" I gave her a wave from the hand along with a smile and ran away, laughing like crazy.

* * *

Iwatodai Station

I finally made it to the station. I was desperately trying to catch my breath. Who would have thought Mitsuru would actually give chase? Good thing she didn't knew how to enhance her body with SP yet or I would have been royally screwed. I glanced around the station, looking for Hamuko, but didn't find her. I sighed and went inside of the bookstore anyway, it shouldn't be too long until Hamuko get here.

Damn, do they even get customers? Each time I come here there is absolutely no one else but me!

"Souji-chan!" Bunkichi called after seeing me. I nodded in greetings. "It's too bad you didn't come earlier, my wife just left for Gekkoukan..."

"Hmmm, maybe she'll meet Hamuko-chan along the way then. We were both headed here." I mused out loud.

"Oh? Does this mean you've thought about what I told you?" He inquired.

"I've been thinking about it... and you were right. A part of me didn't want to get too close from certain people because I was afraid." I admitted. "Truth be told, that's still the case. However, I realized that I needed to get over my fear, and I'll do it. Step by step." I saw Bunkichi giving me a grin and immediately understood why. "I-It doesn't mean anything though! I still only see Hamuko-chan as a friend, that's all, really!" I blurted out. Why did I have to explain this every damn time?

"Oh oh oh! I didn't say anything Souji-chan." He laughed, to which I gave a groan. I just got tricked, didn't I? "Are you thirsty?" He asked, changing the subject. "I have some tea here. Wait, where are the cups? I'm afraid I'm completely useless without my wife."After helping him found the cups I graciously accepted the tea he offered me. I was only able to take a slight sip of my drink before the door of the shop opened. Harshly. Seriously, what's with people these days? Don't they know how to open a door normally? Complaint aside, the one who entered the store was none other than Mitsuko, followed by Hamuko. And both appeared to be slightly exhausted.

"T-T-Tree..." Mitsuko stuttered while catching her breath.

"What's wrong?" I asked, worried.

"Calm down, dear." Bunkichi said to his wife. "See, you have Souji-chan worried too. You oughta know better than to walk that far at your age. Here drink this." He handed her the tea he had prepared for himself. I noticed Hamuko was looking at me. Her eyes were shifting between me and MY cup of tea. I sighed and gave it to her. She gave me a smile in thanks. "Judging by her reaction I guess it's true..." He said quietly to me. The persimmon tree by the walkway at your school... My wife heard a rumor that it was going to be cut down, and she almost fainted. Do you know anything about it?" I shook my head.

"I'm sorry I don't know." I answered. "However, I know someone who may know something."

"You're thinking about Mitsuru-senpai?" Asked Hamuko. I nodded.

"Yeah. Mitsuru-senpai is the president of the student council. She'll definitely be able to tell us if this is just a rumor or not." I explained to the old couple. I turned to Hamuko. "You'll have to ask her though, I highly doubt she will talk to me after the stunt I pulled today." I said with a wince. She sighed.

"You brought this upon yourself you know..." She looked at the elderly couple with a kind smile. "I'll ask her about it tonight. Souji-kun and I will make sure to come back tomorrow with some answers." Huh. Guess tomorrow is no training then. Oh well.

**Hierophant: Rank 4**

"_Thou art I... And I am thou..."_

"_Thou shalt have our blessing when thou choosest to create a Persona of the Hierophant Arcana..."_

"Thank you both. You have no idea how much it means to us." Cried Mitsuko.

With our promise made, we both bade farewell to the old couple and made our way out of the store. I chose this moment to excuse myself.

"Well, I guess I'll be going. I'll see you later Hamuko-chan." I didn't went far as she quickly grabbed my arm, preventing me from walking away. I glanced at her smiling face.

"Now, now Souji-kun, this won't do at all. First you're going to escort me back to the dorm. Second, while we do that, we will finish the conversation from this morning." She chirped happily. I raised an eyebrow in question.

"And by that you mean?" I asked.

"Morning hugs." She answered simply, with her ever so present smile. I smirked.

"Are you jealous by any chance?" Wrong thing to ask. She pulled my arm a 'little' harder. I was mentally debating whether this was a good thing or not. Sure, it hurt like hell. But due to the fact that she pulled me a little closer to her, I was feeling something very soft pressed against my arm. Well, two things technically. It was extremely hard for me to keep my composure. "Fine, fine. I'll explain, now can you please let me go?" I demanded. She stopped pulling my arm, leaving me some room to breath so to speak, but didn't release it. That was alright with me. To be honest I didn't really mind it anymore. Sure it was a little embarrassing but who cares? Some people would kill to be in my position right now! Anyway, we started to walk toward the dorm. I then began to tell her about Nanako. "Back in Inaba, there was one person who was able to wake me up without any trouble. This person... is without a doubt one of the most important person in my life, and I would do anything to ensure her happiness." I said, unable to stop the smile that crept up my face as I thought about Nanako. I felt Hamuko's grip on my arm tighten a little, and glanced at her in response.

"Who?" Hamuko asked me, an unreadable expression plastered on her face.

"I've already mentioned her to you when I told you about my past. Though, now that I think about it, I never told you her name either. Nanako Dojima, my eight years old cousin. Well, I say cousin, but over my time in Inaba the two of us grew very close to each other. It went to the point where she started to call me big bro." I chuckled a little at the memory. "Back on the subject, Nanako-chan developed a very peculiar way to wake me up over the year I spent in Inaba. She would rush into my room from the moment my alarm clock would go off. Then she would promptly jump in my futon, slamming her head in my stomach with all of her strength, after that she would give me the famous 'morning hug'." I chuckled again. "Needless to say I was unable to go back to sleep after this." Hamuko laughed a little at my explanation.

"You really like her don't you?" She asked me.

"Of course. She's my little sister after all. And I WILL do anything to protect her." It didn't matter if she remembered me or not. I would not fail her, not this time.

"Tell me more about her." I was a little surprised by Hamuko's demand, but was happy to oblige.

"Nanako-chan is a very mature girl for her age." I started, but quickly shook my head. "Scratch that, she's more mature than a lot of adults I know. She... lost her mother when she was younger, as a result of a hit and run accident. Due to the nature of her death, my uncle completely thrown himself into his work as a detective. Shifting between his usual work, and his personal research on his wife's murderer. Because of this, he more or less neglected Nanako-chan. It's not to say that he wasn't here for her at all but... he could've done a better job at it..." I let out a sigh."Nanako ended up growing a lot faster than normal children, at least on certain aspect. She was still a eight years old kid after all. I remember how I used to show her some cheap magic trick to impress her." I paused. "It didn't really take a lot to make her happy. Just being at her side seemed to be enough for her... She really took it hard when I had to leave Inaba..." ...Not that I had the chance to... A lone tear rolled down my face and I quickly wiped it away with my free hand, but as luck would have it Hamuko noticed my actions. She was looking at me with a concerned expression. Tch... I really chose my moment to get emotional...

"...You know..." She started after a slight silence. "Inaba isn't that far away from here. Once we take care of that possible Shadow attack, maybe... Maybe the both of us could go there." She said, barely above a whisper. I was completely taken aback by that. I honestly didn't knew how to answer her so I just stared at her in mute shock. "Besides" She continued. "Wasn't it you who said you would take me on a date there? She pointed out with a beaming smile. I remained silent for a moment... Then I started to chuckle. Chuckle that quickly turned into a full blown laughter.

"I did say that, didn't I?" I answered once I calmed down. "Don't worry I'll definitely keep my word. However... As much as I want to, I can't go back yet. " I said with a wry smile.

"Why's that?" She asked me with a slight frown. If I were to go back in Inaba with Hamuko it would eventually lead to her learning about the fact that none of my friends or family remembered me. And then I would have to explain why... How could I even tell her about this. 'Hey, the truth is, I died, got resurrected and thrown into the past with the mission to prevent the end of the world and ultimately your deat-'.

My mind came to a sudden halt as I thought those words. Hamuko's death...

The thought of her dying... was enough to sicken me to the very core of my being. I was so busy wallowing in self-pity that I didn't even realized what **SHE** possibly went through. She sacrificed herself... her very soul... to become this so called great seal... She suffered much more than I ever did...

"**Souji!**" I snapped back to reality as Hamuko yelled my name. I glanced at her worried face. "You spaced out for a moment here... That's not the first time it happens." I took a deep breath and locked my eyes with hers.

"I'm sorry." I told her simply. But those words had a deeper meaning that what she could ever possibly imagine. I wasn't apologizing for ignoring her. But for everything else. But most of all... For being so selfish.

"It's alright." She told me with a soft smile. "I don't know why you refuse to go back to Inaba yet but, I guess I'll just have to wait for you to be ready, alright?" She finished with the same smile.

**I swore something to myself at this moment...**

"Well, look like we're finally here. Thanks for accompanying me Souji-kun." She said before letting go of my arm. I felt strangely empty for a slight moment.

**I had already said that I would protect my friends from any and all danger, but now more than anything else...**

"I'll see you later!" She said with a wave and entered the dorm.

**I would protect HER.**

* * *

**Chapter 9 End.**

**NOTE: I'M CURRENTLY LOOKING FOR A BETA IF YOU ARE INTERESTED PLEASE PM ME SO WE CAN ARRANGE SOMETHING THANK YOU.**

With that taken care of: This chapter is shorter than what I usually do. I had intended to write a lot more, and include up to the next night in Tartarus in this chapter, but I just like how I ended this chapter. It's just... fitting. I think I did pretty well with it compared to the others personally...

One thing I'll never do again though: Announcing how many chapter it will take before a certain event happens. I said before that it would most likely take me two chapter to reach the full moon fight, well that's not the case at all... Yeah it's slow I know that already, I mean I think I'm a 60k words right now and I didn't event start the first big fight, but as I said once before, I don't want to rush things.

On a totally different matter: **PERSONA 4 ANIME IS COMING OUT WHOOOOOHOOOOOOOO! **

Bad thing though, Souji Seta is not Canon anymore, apparently the MC's new name is Yu narukami... I don't like it... Souji Seta sound way more badass.

Well, that's all I have to say right now so let's skip to the...

Question time!

**Nanako is Six year old and seven at the end of the game in canon!:** I know, but in my story she is eight!

**Your chapter is late by one day!:** Huh, hmmm... You see there was this thing...and I was sick... and then... Screw that, I started a new game of Persona 4 and got sidetracked, sorry.

And now to answer some review:

**Bobcat86:** I don't know if I can qualify that as finishing move but the p4 p3 crew will most likely have their own special move once they complete their training. Fusing with their persona is a no though.

**Nightblader1021:** Forgot to answer in last chapter sorry. But yes, I usually do an update once a month.

I thank you guys for all the review and will see you next time!


	10. Chapter 10

Disclaimer: I do not own Persona 3, P3P, Persona 4

* * *

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**Chapter 10**

Tartarus 05/02/2009 (Saturday)

After Hamuko had gone back to the dorm I wandered around the town thinking back to my conversation with her. The simple revelation that came from said discussion had only served to fuel my desire to grow stronger. I refused to let Hamuko suffer more than she already had.

Before I knew it, evening had come to pass and I found myself in front of the school. I waited for the Dark Hour to kick in. It didn't take very long. I watched impassively as the school turn into that horrific caricature of a tower, having grown used to such sight in the past month. The only noticeable change was the nearly full moon shining down upon the city. I jumped over the school gates and entered the tower.

So, here I was. In the lobby of Tartarus. Ready to confront any and all monsters that would dare to cross my path. I knew this was a stupid thing to do that to come here alone, especially without any weapons and armor. Indeed, I was currently armed with nothing else but a box of animal crackers and... Is that the penguin? Ah! Take that Kanji!

Back on the subject, I already knew that all the monsters on the first floor were weak to fire, so it shouldn't be any problem, right? As long as I stayed on the first floor, I shouldn't be in any trouble. At worst I would use a **Solar flare** to stun the Shadows and run away. Yep. My plan was flawless. Though before I went up the stairs, I decided to make a stop at the Velvet Room.

* * *

Velvet Room

"Welcome, Master Seta." Greeted Elizabeth with a sly smirk, which made me briefly wonder if she was doing it to annoy me rather than to be respectful. I nodded back at her nonetheless. I then went to take my usual seat. I took a long and deep breath, and let out an equally long sigh.

"I don't even know why I came here in the first place." I finally said after a moment. I scratched the back of my head in slight embarrassment. "Usually I would do some Personae fusion while enjoying a drink, and I would use that time to make the point on my current situation, but now..."

"Do you have something on your mind you would like to share?" Igor asked. I shrugged.

"I'm a selfish bastard." I said simply, shocking Igor's two assistants at the bluntness of my statement. "I've realized that today... A part of me kept asking itself, why? Why did 'I' had to go through all this shit? Why did 'I' had to suffer so much?" I snorted here. "Yeah right... It's nothing compared to how much 'she' suffered... I was so busy mopping around that I didn't even realize that." I chuckled. "I guess it's a strange thing to say but... a very small part of me is now glad that all of this happened. True, I lost a lot through this ordeal, but it's not like I can't get it back... Besides, now I have even more reasons to protect this world." The faces of all the members of S.E.E.S flashed through my mind. "And most of all, I can prevent Hamuko's fate." I let out a small smile as I thought about her. "I finally feel as if I've come to term with my situation. No more fooling around, no more lamenting myself." I paused and adopted a determined expression. "It's high time for me to get serious and face my destiny."

**SMASH!**

The image of a card began to appear in my mind. In the center of the card was the picture of a woman. In each of the card's corner were a shadowed figure. One could easily guess what they were though. An angel, a bull, a lion and finally an eagle. This, was the XXI arcana. This, was the **World**.

**World: Rank 1**

_Thou art I... And I am Thou..._

_Thy resolution to move forward through adversity has been made known..._

_Thou shalt be blessed when using Personae of the World Arcana..._

I blinked stupidly for a moment. Surprised by what just happened. When I finally overcame my shock, I let out a small laugh. "Bonds truly are a frightening thing..." I muttered, mostly to myself.

"*Chuckles* Indeed they are. But it is through those bonds that you will grow stronger. It is with those bonds that you will unravel the truth. And it is thanks to those same bonds that you will succeed in your journey." I nodded at Igor's word, glad to see that someone had so much faith in me.

"Well, I have some training to do so I'll be going." I stood up from my seat, ready to leave "Thanks for the help." As I placed my hand on the handle of the door Igor asked me one last question.

"I'm curious. Will you not question me about this new development?" I shook my head at that.

"No. I feel this is something that I have to discover by myself." I responded with my back still facing the residents. Yet, I could somehow feel that Igor's grin was wider than usual. "I'll see you guys later." I finally said with a wave.

"Until then, farewell."

* * *

The first thing I did when I entered the first block of Tartarus was to switch my Persona to Izanagi-no-Okami. And I was pleasantly surprised with what I found. I hadn't missed what the voice had said when this new social link triggered itself. Thou shalt be blessed when **using** Personae of the World arcana. I now had a better understanding of what that meant. Indeed, it appeared as if Izanagi had obtained quite a boost in term of power. It wasn't that big of a change but it would certainly make a difference on a long fight. There was also the fact that said social link was only at Rank 1. I could only begin to imagine what kind of change would occur as that number would increase.

However now was not the time for this. I had been wandering on the first floor of Tartarus for the past thirty or so minutes. It was difficult to keep track of the time in here. I had faced several groups of Shadows without any major problem. The lack of weapon didn't bother me as much as I first thought. Well, it was mostly due to the fact that I was currently using a makeshift blade made out of lightning. I didn't even had to use Amaterasu yet. Sadly, even this enhanced body of mine had its limit. My Spiritual reserves were starting to run dangerously low. Maybe now was a good time to leave. Besides, I had already accomplished my objective which was to grow stronger, in more way than one. In addition to Izanagi's power up, my own SR had increase by one, placing me currently at rank 13.

"Good evening." My reflex kicked in as I heard a voice just behind me. I quickly spun around, ready to cut my interlocutor in half with my lightning blade. However, I sliced nothing but air. I blinked, not understanding what had just happened or where my 'enemy' was. That is, until I looked down. "That could've hurt me you know." It was that kid from last time. Or was it a ghost? He was looking at me with a smug smile on its face.

"Why do I feel like you did this on purpose?" I said to him.

"Just your imagination." He answered swiftly. Damn cheeky brat. "Isn't it dangerous for you to be here alone?" The ghost asked me. I shrugged.

"A little, I guess. But I have to, if I want to prevent the end." I answered, slightly narrowing my eyes at him. He nodded at my answer.

"I see. While your desire to protect your friends is commendable, know that you will not be able to protect anything should you die because of your carelessness." ...Did I just got lectured by a kid? I decided to humor him for now.

"I know that already. But it also apply in the case where my strength is insufficient." I told him with a sigh. "Anyway, I doubt you came here just for that, didn't you?" He nodded at my question.

"I came here to warn you." I snapped to attention at this. "One week form now there will be a full moon... A new ordeal awaits you... On such days you will face your greatest challenges..." I immediately understood the situation.

"I see. So the Shadows don't combine by themselves, the moon is the trigger here..." Why the moon though? I now understood the concept of the other world and why the Shadows merge together to attack their human host when the fog lift, but why are the Shadows in Iwatodai only merging together on day of full moon? Were they even merging together to begin with? In theory they had to, as it would explain the decrease in apathy syndrome cases from last time... I sighed again. Now was not the time for this. I could think about this situation later, at the dorm, not in the middle of Tartarus surrounded by a bunch of Shadows. "Thanks for the warning. Did you tell Hamuko?" I got a nod in response. I then noticed how his usually smiling face turn to a frown.

"How long did you stay on this floor?" I blinked at the question. "How long?" He asked more forcefully at my silence.

"I dunno. Thirty, forty minutes." I answered, confused. He nodded.

"You may want to run then. 'He' is coming." For some reason I felt a shiver run down my spine at his words. I was about to ask him what he was talking about when I heard it.

_Clang! Clang!_

That sound...

_Clang! Clang!_

I would recognize it anywhere... The Reaper was here...

Fear started to consume my mind and I broke into cold sweat. I didn't lose any more time and quickly scooped the ghost under my right arm, not wondering in the least how I was able to touch him in the first place. Having been here for nearly an hour I already knew the layout of this floor and where the access-point was. I immediately began to run, pumping SP through my legs to increase my speed to its maximum. I could hear the clattering of chains fast approaching.

"**Time for a new game!**" I almost stumbled to the ground in shock at hearing the childlike voice, who if I were to guess, was that of the Reaper. Who would have thought that fucking psychopath had the mindset of a kid who thought of hunting humans as a great way to entertain himself. Either that or he had a sick sense of humor. The second theory being far more likely. How was it even able to talk anyway?

With my free hand I quickly dug inside my pants pockets and took out two smoke bombs. The reasons I even had those things on me when I didn't had weapons or armor, was to escape Mitsuru if she got a little too dangerous for my liking. I threw the two bombs to the ground and took advantage of the smokescreen to cover my escape.

**Bang! Bang!**

Two blurs passed at my sides, missing me by mere inches. I gritted my teeth and continued to run. The access-point then came into view. It was at the same time that seals began to appear on the ground. Seals covered with Shadows. Quickly recognizing this sight as a Mamudoon spell, I switched my Persona to Yamato-Takeru, negating any effect it would normally have had on me. I finally arrived at the access-point, and furiously tried to enter the commands. I barely caught a glimpse of the Reaper before being teleported in the lobby of Tartarus. I didn't stop running though. I quickly left Tartarus, jumped over the school gate and ran into the town.

* * *

(A while later)

"You can stop running you know. It won't leave Tartarus." I glanced at the kid, still secured under my right arm. He looked perfectly calm despite what had just happened. I started to slow down, little by little until I finally stopped. I was panting, completely and utterly exhausted, my Spiritual reserves were dry, and all of my muscles were screaming in pain. I carefully dropped the kid on the ground.

"W-What...*Pant* What the fuck was the Reaper doing in here? *Pant*" I shouted at him.

"Obviously it was hunting you." ...Was it possible to kill a ghost? The expression on my face must have been quite scary since the kid quickly continued to talk. "I don't know much about him. Only that he appear wherever there are Shadows. To each location, a different game." He explained.

"...Game?" I asked, my breath finally back under control.

"You heard him too, right?" Yeah, I sure did. Thought it was only a joke though... "If you stay too long on the same floor, he will come after you, just like he did tonight." Coming to Tartarus alone... Never before have I been so proud of one of my stupid decisions. I nearly died, but I got precious information in the process. Who know what would've happen if that bastard had appeared when I was with my team? "He must abide by some rules though. For example, he cannot leave the floor on which he appear." Huh?

"Why?" I demanded.

"How should I know? I'm just a kid." I swear this kid, ghost, whatever, had a gift when it came to pissing me off. I took a deep breath to prevent myself from strangling him. Now, let's think about this as rationally as possible.

The Reaper treating this situation as nothing else but a mere game? It actually made a lot of sense when I thought about it. In the other world the Reaper kept hiding himself inside of Treasures Chest. If he simply was after our life he could have easily jumped out at any moment and give chase. But he didn't. In fact it was going to the point where we could clearly sense his presence before opening those chest, therefore allowing us to make a decision whether to open it or not. But that wasn't all. Each times we did manage to defeat him he always left some kind of item behind him. Either weapons or armors. While there was nothing strange with the armors, the weapons he left behind were always weapons that was of use to our team. Sword, Dagger, Legging, Ougi, Shield, Claws and Gun. It couldn't be just a coincidence... Still, if the 'game' in the other world was that of Hide&Seek, the 'game' here was clearly that of Tag. I let out a long sigh of frustration. Nothing could ever be simple for me, right?

Putting my thoughts about the Reaper aside, I began to think about my other problem. Namely the moon and how it was affecting the Shadows. With this knowledge I would be able to prepare S.E.E.S before any incoming attack. However, for the life of me, I was unable to see how the two were related to one another. I glanced toward the sky and began to observe the object of my frustration. It was glowing an ominous green, courtesy of the Dark Hour.

…

Now that I took a good look at it, it seemed to be in perfect alignment with Tartarus. The second strange thing about the moon, was of course its size. As a matter of fact it was one of the first thing I had noticed when I arrived in Iwatodai. Still, even knowing this was of no help at all. Maybe I should simply ask the ghost...

"How does the moon affect the Shadows?" I questioned, glancing back at the kid.

"I don't know. It just does." He replied with a carefree smile. Somehow though I just knew he wasn't lying. He really had no idea. I sighed. This was just like the other world all over again. Questions after questions, but no answers at all. All that was really missing were the bear puns... "The Dark Hour is about to end so I'll be leaving. You should go back too." I nodded at him.

"I suppose so. Thanks again for the help. And next time please announce yourself, rather than trying to scare the shit out of me." His smile change to a grin.

"Now where would be the fun in that?" That little... "By the way, Hamuko was worried about you, you know." Crap. Maybe I should've told her I would be coming home late. "She asked me if I knew where you were." His grin seemed to widen at those words. Please tell me he didn't... "Of course I had no other choice but to tell her you were in Tartarus. So, don't be surprised if she's mad at you. I'll see you later." He waved at me and promptly vanished. When my mind finally managed to reboot...

"**That son of a...!**" Of course the Dark Hour had disappeared just as I started screaming curses at that little bastard. Because of this, I pretty much woke up the whole area. It was time for a tactical retreat.

* * *

Iwatodai Dorm

I was back at the dorm. I carefully made my way toward my room, trying not to make any noise, and keeping all of my senses wide open at the same time. Who knew what kind of dangerous creatures could be lurking in the shadows, waiting for a single mistake on my part to attack. Thankfully I made it to my room in one piece. I was safe! Or so I thought...

As I entered my room I immediately took my school vest off and threw it carelessly behind me, not even bothering to turn on the light. I was too damn tired to care about anything else other than sleeping. I was about to take off my shirt when...

_Click!_

The sound of my door being locked. I didn't dare turn around for I knew **IT** was here. I had been far too careless! I had thought being in my room would guarantee my safety! How naive... I could once again hear Rise's voice in my head, but whereas yesterday she was telling me about finding an enemy's weak point, today the only thing I could hear was: _'What's this? It feels really bad...'_

I took a deep breath to calm myself. I knew better than to show fear in **ITS** presence. For if I did, **IT** would use that same fear against me. I turned around, ready to face this dangerous foe.

"H-Hey there Kirijo-senpai!" I greeted cheerfully.

**Crack!**

Fuck! A broken nose. Again. With a bloody hand covering my injury, I glanced upward at Mitsuru. The key to my room was in her hand. Should have know better than to throw my vest away ... I focused my gaze on her face. Strangely enough she was smiling. Scratch that, she seemed over joyous. And it scared the shit out of me as it was very similar to how Hamuko would act when she was pissed off.

"Kirijo-senpai is it? And here I thought we were on a first name basis." She said, her voice dripping with sarcasm.

"Any reason for you to be in my room in the middle of the night?" I asked tentatively.

"Why? Wasn't it you who said that we would be meeting each other tonight?" She answered while taking a slow step toward me. I suddenly found myself grateful for my broken nose, because was it not for my injury, I would have had a nosebleed for an entirely different reason. And I highly doubt Mitsuru would have appreciate this. I quickly shook my head clear of those thought.

"You do realize you can't hurt me right? I mean, we have to go to Tartarus tomorrow and with the possible Shadow attack incoming..." I explained in an attempt to avoid Mitsuru's wrath.

"I don't see any problem. I'll just have to make sure not to cause any lasting damage, is all." Damn, this is going to suck so bad... "Now, is there anything you wish to say before we start?" She demanded, stepping closer to me once again.

Come on Souji! I'm sure you can still talk your way out of this! You have a gift when it comes to reasoning with people! Use it! "Please be gentle. It's my first time." I blurted out.

…

Well I guess that works too.

* * *

Iwatodai Dorm 05/03/2009 (Sunday)

I woke up in my room. Though not in my bed. I was sprawled out on the floor and the slightest of my movement resulted in a LOT of pain. Indeed Mitsuru had given a new meaning to the word 'execution' yesterday. I'm pretty sure I woke up the whole dorm with my scream... And I suddenly realized just how wrong that sounded. I shook my head and using my incredible will power, forced myself to stand up. I look at the calendar. Sunday huh? I had to go to the bookstore with Hamuko today... And I had to spar with her too... But before that...

**Zap!**

"_Here comes Tanakaaa!_

_Over the airwaves to youuu!"_

Guess there are some things that just never change. It was my lucky day as they just so happen to be selling a sword. Seriously how do they even get away with this? I took a more pronounced look at the sword shown on TV. It was long double edged sword with a very intricate guard. It look like the kind of weapon you would see on a medieval themed movie, though it was clear that the blade was anything but fake. The blade was completely black except for the edges portion. Meh, I'll take it. I highly doubted this sword would disappoint me as everything I had ever bought on Tanaka's show had been incredibly useful so far. Some items even had been crafted out of Shadows remains. It was a wonder as to how they got their hands on it though.

Once I finished my call I left my room and headed toward the lobby. Well, limped would be a better way to describe it. Mitsuru had really done a number on me.

"'Morning!" I greeted the ones present in the lobby. Namely Yukari, Junpei and... "Hey there Mitsuru!" I greeted her, forfeiting any suffix on purpose. She was on one of the couch, reading a book. She glanced up at me, her eyes twitching, but didn't say anything. I made my way to the couch opposed to hers and lied down on it.

"Dude, was that you screaming last night?" Junpei asked me. I didn't even glance in his direction.

"Yeah. Sorry about that. Mitsuru was a bit rough with me." I let out a dramatic sigh here. "Even though I told her it was my first time..." I got the desired result in the form of Yukari and Junpei screaming their surprise. One more than the other.

"Not nearly rough enough it would seems..." Mitsuru hissed to which I just chuckled. Annoying her was just so entertaining.

"Where's Hamuko-chan?" I asked, changing the subject.

"On the roof. She's been training since early this morning." Interesting. I thought about it a little and decided it would be best to join her. I stood up from the couch and went to our 'armory' to pick up a Shinai and Bo staff. I then made my way toward the roof, hoping she wouldn't be too angry at me for going to Tartarus alone.

* * *

Iwatodai Dorm: Rooftop

I had been on the roof for the past five minutes and Hamuko had yet to show any sign that she had noticed me. Right now, her training seemed to be her sole and unique focus.

I was sitting on the ground, silently watching her. I was completely mesmerized by her movements. She was twirling her weapon, quickly shifting from one hand to another. Altering between devastating stab motion and wild slash attacks. It almost looked like a dance. A graceful yet deadly dance.

As I continued to observe her, I began to realize just how strong Hamuko really was. Her eyes were brimming with determination, and her presence alone just seemed to exude power and confidence. Right now in front of me was not the sweet and cheerful girl I had come to know in the past month, but the real leader of S.E.E.S and savior of the world.

When she finally stopped to take a break, I stood up and made my way toward her.

"'Morning." I greeted her. She glanced toward me, still trying to catch her breath after her intense training session.

"'Morning..." She greeted back slowly, her eyes slightly narrowed at me. It wasn't a good sign... Better test the water...

"Did you see that ghost yesterday?" I asked, my voice not betraying anything.

"I did." She answered simply, her eyes narrowing even further.

"So... He told you about the moon and the Shadows?"

"He did." I sighed at her short answer. She obviously knew about my little escapade yesterday and was angry because of it. May as well get this over with...

"You're angry." It wasn't a question.

"Of course I am! What were you thinking going there alone?" She finally snapped, turning fully toward me . I winced inwardly.

"Sorry... I know this was stupid of me but... I needed to make sure I would be strong enough to protect everyone when the time call for it..."

"And what if something had happened?" I looked away from her. The words of the ghost kept ringing in my head as she said that. Both were absolutely right. I did gain useful information due to my little trip, but if anything had gone wrong... "You keep going on and on about how you want to protect this and that... But in the end who will protect **you**...?" She whispered, just loud enough for me to hear. "I've decided..." I returned my gaze toward her. "I'm going to get stronger too... Strong enough so that you will trust me to fight by your side." I was about to cut her off and tell her that I did trust her when I heard the end of her sentence. "Strong enough to protect you..." And once again I found myself shocked into silence. Seems like this was becoming a habit of her...

I gave her a smile. Not the goofy ones I had grown used to give during the past month. But a real smile. One that truly reflected how happy I was.

"Thanks Hamuko. It really means a lot to me." I finally said. She glanced away, apparently a little embarrassed by the situation.

"This doesn't mean I forgive you though..." She muttered. "Besides, what tell me that you won't do this again?" She asked, looking back at me seriously.

"When I became leader of the S.I.T, Yosuke, Chie, Teddie and I made a promise to each other. Under no circumstances were we allowed to enter the other world alone. To this day I have yet to break my promise. And trust me, there were times where I really wanted to..." I took a deep breath. And looked at Hamuko straight into the eyes. "I'm going to make the same promise to you. As of today, I promise to never enter Tartarus alone." Hamuko kept staring at me for a moment, probably searching for any sign that would indicate I was lying. She finally broke eye contact and sighed.

"Fine. But you better not break your promise, because if you do... I don't think I'll be able to forgive you..." I just smiled at that.

"Good think I won't then." And she returned my smile. "Now that this matter has been settled, how about the two of us have a little spar ?" I went back to the weapons I had brought to the roof. I throw the bo staff at Hamuko which she caught easily.

"I don't know... I just said I wanted to get stronger to protect you and now I have to beat you up?" She muttered with a frown, giving some few test swing with her weapon. I smirked at that. I knew the perfect way to change her mind about sparring.

"Hey, you remember that tea I gave you at the bookstore?" She raised an eyebrow at the question but nodded anyway. "Since it was originally for me it so happened that I took a slight sip of it before giving it to you... Doesn't that make it an indirect kiss?" I watched with great amusement as her face went completely red in mere seconds. She started shaking a little in embarrassment. Or maybe it was anger... Probably both...

"I really need to beat that perverted streak out of you..." She muttered darkly. My smirk only widened at that.

"If you were to beat the pervert out of me there wouldn't be anything left." Silence. "That's... kinda sad isn't it?" I finally said, dropping my head in shame. I raised it when I heard Hamuko's soft laugh.

"Then again, that's what make you yourself." She commented with a smile now marring her face.

"Is that supposed to be a compliment?" I asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Who knows?" I shook my head in amusement and with that, we both charged at each other.

* * *

**Chapter 10 End.**

**NOTE: I'M CURRENTLY LOOKING FOR A BETA IF YOU ARE INTERESTED PLEASE PM ME SO WE CAN ARRANGE SOMETHING THANK YOU.**

Yeah, yeah, the usual announce for a beta and all that... anyway:

Chapter 10 posted, a little short, again.(100 words shorter than the last) Why? Several reasons really. But the most important is that by keeping it as it is it shows a real focus on the relationship Hamuko/Souji.

Question time!

**World arcana:** I originally hadn't planned to introduce it that way. It will work differently than other arcana(Kinda like the fool.). Now what does this social link imply for Souji? Well, as stated he will stop mopping around about the past. And he will take the fight against Shadow much more seriously.(You'll see what I mean next chapter)

**Another power up for Souji? Won't the other Persona-User fall behind in term of strength? What about Hamuko?**: Yes, another power up but a slight one for the moment. Souji will be more powerful than normal Persona-users that's a given. Concerning Hamuko, she will have her own power up but not for the moment. The gap in strength between Hamuko and Souji won't be very big in the end.

**What the hell did you do to the Reaper?:** That's a thing I said in the very first chapters, the reaper will be very different from what you could ever possibly imagine. I won't spoil anything yet you'll just have to wait and see...

Now to answer the reviews:

**Bobcat86**: I must thank you for the idea of Souji having to wear a 'disguise' of sort. It won't be for quite some time but it will definitely happen. I don't have anything special planned for weapons fusion besides what would be the ultimate weapon of Hamuko and Souji. As for the truth about Souji? Not for quite some time yet.

**Angrysquid8:** Well you got your answer in this chapter I guess. The reaper may use light and dark spell but his overall physical abilities are more than enough to completely obliterate Souji at this point.(And he has almighty spells too.)

**AnimaniacXOX**: About Hamuko's interaction with other characters... Hmm, that would honestly be hard to do written from Souji's point of view. I may write some special chapters from Hamuko's POV in the future but this is still something in consideration.

**Blazingreaper: **If by FES you mean the answer, then yes there will probably be a mention to it. It is still in consideration. (While the main plot is already planned, the sub plots them are still subjects to some change)

**Azer Yamato:** Sorry but no harem. It would be very hard to pull on a Persona story.

**Black7:** For Hamuko's interaction with others it is just as I said to **AnimaniacXOX**. As for showing Hamuko's leader side, it will definitely happen. However not yet.(Probably during the second month, so it's not too far from now.)

I thank you all for the reviews and will see you next time!


	11. Chapter 11

Disclaimer: I do not own Persona 3, P3P, Persona 4

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**Chapter 11 **

Bookworms 05/03/2009 (Sunday) 

After finishing our training session, Hamuko and I both left the dorm for the bookstore. On the way there she put me up to date about the situation at school. Turns out the rumor about the persimmon tree being cut down wasn't just a rumor. The staff of the school had indeed decided to cut down the tree. Why? Well, we had no idea as Mitsuru herself didn't knew that much about the situation. So now we had to report the news to Bunkichi and Mitsuko. Not even ten second after entering the store, Bunkichi and Mitsuko noticed us, and...

"Souji-chan! Are you alright? What happened to you?" Exclaimed a panicked Mitsuko while rushing toward me. I guess I couldn't fault her reaction seeing as the top of my head was completely covered in bandage. Hamuko had gone a bit overboard during our training and scored a nice hit right on my head. Of course I could've easily healed that wound by now, but Hamuko forbade me to do so. She said it was my punishment for going to Tartarus alone and being, I quote, a 'reckless idiot'. That woman was pure evil... But I could be evil too! I smirked inwardly.

"Well, you see, the truth is...!" I was silenced by a elbow to my ribs. I glanced at the responsible, only to see Hamuko giving me 'the smile'. She had obviously anticipated what I was about to do. It was bound to happen after spending so much time with each other. She now had a basic understanding of how my mind was functioning.

"He fell down some stairs. Right Souji-kun?" Hamuko said all too sweetly.

"Y-Yeah. I fell down some stairs." I stuttered in fright. My thought of vengeance all but forgotten.

"Really...Who in their right mind would play in the stairs at night." She said with a sigh. "Next time do tell me when you do something like that, so that if something happen I'll be able to help you." She finished, locking her eyes with mine, her smile still present. I quickly understood the real meaning of her words. I dropped my head in shame as she had just managed to increase the guilt I felt for my actions last night and made me look like a complete fool in front of Bunkichi and Mitsuko at the same time. Yep. Definitely evil.

Mitsuko and Bunkichi observed the both of us for a long moment, and to our surprise, began to laugh.

"So Souji-chan, what did you do that warrant Hamuko-chan hitting you?" Bunkichi asked me. I blinked in surprise.

"W-What? I-I did not-!" Cried a panicked Hamuko. I quickly cut her off.

"How did you know?" I asked, entirely ignoring Hamuko's cry of protest.

"Bah, Mitsuko used to do the same to me every time I did something stupid." He replied with a slight laugh. I placed a hand on my chin as I contemplated his words.

"Hmmm, does this mean we act like a married couple?" I muttered mostly to myself. Hamuko's head snapped in my direction. Her face turned a bright red. She was reduced to nothing more than a sputtering mess. Guess I got my revenge in the end. Though for some stupid reasons I felt the need to continue. "Should I buy you a ring then, Dear?" I asked her with a wide grin. It was then that I noticed it. Body trembling. Teeth gritted. Breathing raged and uneven. Such were the signs of my impending doom.

* * *

Five minute later we find ourselves in the back of the store, sitting at a table and drinking some tea with the eldery couple. My bandage was slightly bloodier than before I came to the store. There are some things you just don't joke about.

Anyways, Hamuko and I quickly found ourselves engaged in various conversations with the couple. Time flew by, and then came the time to inform them about the tree. From there, the mood made a complete 180°. Mitsuko was now crying and Bunkichi had a somber look plastered on his face. I knew I may come to regret that question but I needed to ask.

"If you don't mind me asking, why is that tree so important to you?" I demanded quietly.

"That tree is a reminder of our son... Before his death, he was a teacher at Gekkoukan High School..." Bunkichi started. He then explained how his son and his first students planted that tree for graduation day. I understand now, why this situation was affecting the old couple so much...

"I see... I apologize if I brought up unpleasant memories..." I said, my face grim.

"Nonsense, it's only natural for you two to know after everything you've done for us." Answered Bunkichi with a wry smile.

When Hamuko finally managed to calm down Mitsuko, we both decided it was time for us to go home. I let out a sigh as we left the store. Bunkichi and Mitsuko really didn't deserve to go through such ordeals...

**Hierophant: Rank 5**

_"Thou art I... And I am thou..."_

_"Thou shalt have our blessing when thou choosest to create a Persona of the Hierophant Arcana..."_

* * *

Once we were outside of the store, I decided to focus my mind on some happier thoughts.

Sooo, let us see how much time it will take her today. Let's start the count!

One... Two... Three... Fou-.

**Snatch!**

Four second. That's all the time it took for Hamuko to grab my arm after leaving the bookstore. My time was definitely improving. I glanced at her face with a raised eyebrow.

"What?" She asked innocently as if she hadn't done anything strange. I shrugged with my free arm.

"Nothing." I answered.

We both started to make our way back to the dorm in silence, simply enjoying each other presence. Maybe there was some truth in what I said earlier after all... We really do act like a couple sometime... Not that I really minded... If I were to be honest with myself I would even go as far as to say I enjoyed it... Back in Inaba, there were times where Rise would try to do pretty much the same thing. However I would always try to pry her off as subtly as possible, much to her dismay. I didn't feel the need to do the same with Hamuko. Being like this with her just felt so... right. Still, I was surprised to how quick I adapted to this situation. I couldn't help but to be embarrassed the first few times she did this. Now? I merely saw it as a common thing for us to do.

Sadly, it was also during those times that I couldn't help but feel guilty for all the things I was hiding from her. It made me feel as if our relationship was founded on nothing else but a lie. Then again, the same could be said for all the members of S.E.E.S. I sighed inwardly. So much for the happier thoughts. Still, I couldn't continue like this... I still refused to tell anyone the whole truth about myself, but maybe I could at least tell Hamuko about the Velvet Room... Sure, it would raise some questions as to why I lied to her but...

"Souji-kun, are you alright?" Hamuko's voice pulled me out of my depressing thoughts. I gave her a small smile.

"Yeah, just a lot on my mind, is all." I tried to reassure her.

"Are you worried about what will happen on the next full moon?" Not one to look a gift horse in the mouth I jumped at the excuse Hamuko provided me with.

"A little I guess."

"...Should we tell the others?" She asked me quietly. I closed my eyes and thought about it for a moment.

"No." I finally said. "I don't want to put any more stress on the team that there already are, especially not over some unfounded assumptions. Besides, if we were to tell them, we would have to explain about the ghost, and I really don't look forward to that discussion." Though it would be funny as hell to see Yukari's reaction.

"I see your point." Hamuko replied with a sigh. "Still, it doesn't feel right to lie to them..."

"I know... Believe me, I know..." I muttered.

* * *

Iwatodai Dorm: Lounge

I was currently in the lounge, sitting on one of the couch. I was watching TV in an attempt to pass time before going to Tartarus. As a matter of fact, everyone was here. Hamuko and Yukari were both sitting directly to my right and left, respectively. Mitsuru was reading a book, again. Akihiko was doing, whatever, with his boxing gloves. And Junpei appeared to be in a near comatose state in front of the TV.

"Damn, I'm bored..." I complained with a sigh.

"Then now may be a good time for you to go study." Replied Mitsuru. I laughed for a good minute at that.

"Damn, good one Mitsuru." I said, wiping a tear out of my eye. I then noticed her starring at me with a blank expression. "Wait, you were serious?" Of course she was serious. It's Mitsuru after all...

"Well, the midterms are approaching." Explained Yukari. Midterms huh... Man, it feels like such a long time since I had to take one of those...

"Speaking of which, do you mind if I borrow your notes?" Junpei asked me.

"You may want to ask someone else." I answered him without missing a beat. He raised an eyebrow in confusion.

"Why?"

"The truth is, I didn't write jack shit in my notebook, and this since the start of the year." I chirped happily, proud of my accomplishment. Not everyone shared my enthusiasm though.

"**You what?**" Bellowed an angry Mitsuru. I shrugged.

"I didn't see the need to. It's mostly materials I already knew, so I usually use a Dormina spell to sleep in class."

"...You use spells at school?" Mitsuru was now hissing instead of talking. It was not a good sign. At all. But then again, since when did I care? I just needed to turn her accusations against her and that would be enough to shut her up.

"As if you're one to talk. You freely use your Ice spells against me when you get into one of your fits." I said, scoffing.

"T-This has nothing to do with this." She stuttered with an embarrassed blush. I sighed.

"But seriously, I'm pretty confident I'll ace this test." I said, getting back on track. "Hell, I'm even ready to make a bet out of it." I continued with a confident smirk.

"What are the terms?" Mitsuru demanded with a strange glint in her eyes.

"It's simple. I have to score the highest score in my year to win. Anything else will result in my loss. If I lose, I will join the student council and promise not to ditch a single day of school for the rest of the year." I knew it was too good an opportunity for Mitsuru to pass up.

"And if you win?" She pressed on, slightly narrowing her eyes at me.

"If I win, you have to ditch school with me for a whole day." I told her with a large smile.

"Hahaha, there's no way you'll get Mitsuru-senpai to agree to this!" Exclaimed a laughing Junpei.

"I agree. She'd sooner kill herself than break the rules," Commented Akihiko in mild amusement.

"Deal." Mitsuru announced, much to the shock of... well, everyone. I admit I expected her to make a fuss when I stated my conditions. Or at the very least try to impale me with a Bufu spell. Strange. I'm not going to complain though. I glanced at my watch. One hour before Tartarus.

"If I hurry I may be able to sneak inside the school and steal the answers for the test before the Dark Hour kick in." As soon at those words left my mouth I found myself with a makeshift blade of ice pointed at my throat.

"Try to cheat and I assure you this is the last thing you will ever do." I glanced at the weapon in utter surprise but with no real worry. The sword had some flaws here and here, and the blade itself wasn't as sharp as it should be, but it was combat-usable nonetheless.

"You went from freezing my door to creating weapons made of ice in just one freaking day? You really took a shine to shape manipulation, didn't you?" I saw Mitsuru giving me an arrogant smirk. "That's pretty cool, though I bet you still can't reinforce your body with SP, correct?" And there goes the smirk.

"All of us would probably already know how if you had bothered to teach us!" She snapped angrily.

"That again? We just talked about it the other day! I will not teach you anything unless you can summon your Persona without an evoker!" I retorted, just as angrily.

"I fail to see why you're so adamant about this." Mitsuru continued, not bothering to hide her annoyance in the least. Though she did take the blade away from my throat. That's an improvement, right?

"Because by all right you guys should not even be able to summon your Personae. And I highly doubt those Evokers allows you to draw on their full potential. Believe me, it's imperative that you guys learn how to do this." Because I'd rather not have to use the other method... That's why I was hoping to use the whole training thing as a motivation of sort... So far it didn't seem to work...

"And how do we do that exactly? No offense but you've been pretty vague about it." Complained Akihiko.

"Fair enough. Let's start from the very beginning. What are Shadows and Personae?" I asked to everyone in the room.

"That's an easy one! Shadows are the evil monsters and Personae the thing we use to defeat them!" Declared Junpei proudly. I shook my head in amusement at the simple answer.

"Technically, you're not wrong. But that's not the answer I'm looking for. Let's put it another way. Why are Personae able to damage Shadows? Why are Persona-users, the only thing able to kill Shadows for that matter?" After a minute with no one answering I decided to give the answer. "It's because Shadows and Personae are the exact same thing to begin with." I said calmly

"**What?**" Everyone in the room stood up in shock at my declaration. I frowned at their reaction.

"I can understand Hamuko, Junpei and Yukari not knowing about this since they just got their power, but you two?" I continued with a pointed look at Mitsuru and Akihiko.

"Are were we supposed to know?" Demanded a slightly disturbed Mitsuru.

"You created a means to summon a Persona artificially, yet you tell me you did so with no understanding of what Shadows and Personae are?" I inquired with a raised eyebrow. "Well, no matter." I continued before she could answer. "May I continue with my explanation?" Once everyone was back to their seats I went on with the explanation. "Shadows are suppressed human thoughts given physical form. Everyone has them inside. You guys are no exception. The only difference is that you've tamed your Shadows. Thus becoming a Persona... Sort of." I finished lamely.

"What do you mean sort of?" This time it was Akihiko who asked.

"To tames one's Shadows, means to be able to accept every single aspect of yourself. You can do so naturally or... forcefully." Judging by Hamuko's expression she caught on on what I was implying.

"...Forcefully?" He demanded once more. I took a deep breath and began to explain.

"Imagine a copy of yourself coming out of your body and divulging all of your deepest and darkest secrets for all the world to hear. Failure to accept oneself will result in the Shadow going berserk, and trying to kill its host. Add to that the fact that those Shadows are exceptionally strong. Remember the one on the rooftop? Well, I guess it falls in the same category... A strong-willed Shadow that draws others to it in order to increase its own power..." I let the words sink in before continuing. "Now the thing with all of you is that your Personae were already in the process of awakening, but you've forced the process in yet another way. The Evoker." I paused, thinking of the best way to explain why the evoker caused such a problem. "Forcing the process by calling out one's Shadow while dangerous can still be considered natural. You, however, literally jumped a step, binding your Persona to yourselves without having to face your own Shadows. Because of this, you are now unable to summon your Persona without outside help, and things like Shape manipulation or Reinforcing will probably be harder for you to master. If Mitsuru got it so quickly it's in great part due to how much experience she actually has as a Persona-user. There is also the risk of your Shadow popping out at any given moment to have a nice chat with you." Though in reality it would only happen if I took them to the Shadow World. Which will probably be the case at one point or another. I purposely ignored the blanching faces of all the S.E.E.S. members and went on with my list. After all, fear was a good motivator. "Let's not even talk about the possibility of your Persona transfiguring being drastically diminished."

"Transfiguring?" Questioned Hamuko quietly.

"When a individual reach a certain state of mind, it is possible for its Persona to... evolve. For example, my main Persona used to be Izanagi. Not Izanagi-no-Okami. It took me nearly being killed by Shadows to have an epiphany, which in turn allowed Izanagi to transfigure." Mitsuru's eyes flashed with realization.

"It was when we found you, wasn't it?" I nodded at her question. "I see... I guess I can understand why you were so insistent about this now..." She muttered. I glanced at everyone face and saw them lost in their own thoughts. I guess that was a lot to take in...

"Hey..." I turned my head toward Yukari when she called me. "You said Shadows are born from humans right? Does this mean, humanity is to blame for Tartarus? For the Dark Hour?" Yukari's question got everyone's attention. I could fell all of their combined stares on me. I gave a small sigh and answered.

"Partially." I admitted. "Humanity as a whole is responsible for all the Shadows residing inside of Tartarus. We, however, are not responsible for whatever created Tartarus. What I'm trying to say is, without Tartarus, the Shadows would have never been able to appear in the first place."

"But didn't you say there was a possibility for a Shadow to be behind the creation of the Dark Hour?" She pressed on. I was treading on dangerous ground right now. Igor's warning kept ringing in the back of my head. I had already disclosed a good deal of information. However it was way too soon to even think about mentioning Nyx.

"It's just that, a possibility. As your leader I have to prepare for all kind of situations and how to best deal with them. I am merely envisaging the worst case scenario by assuming that the Dark Hour and Tartarus are being caused by a living entity. Just as I said before, if someone or something is behind this, it has enough power to literally tear apart the fabric of both time and space. Hence the reason why I'm so insistent about you guys training outside of Tartarus." Once I was finished with my explanation I glanced back at my watch. "We have half an hour left before we need to depart for Tartarus." I stood up from the couch. "It would be best for you all to use that time to reflect on everything I told you. In the future if you happen to have any questions about Shadows or Persona don't hesitate to come to me. I'll answer them to the best of my abilities." With that said, I left the lounge for my own room. I had to get ready for battle.

* * *

Tartarus

I was seriously starting to regret informing the team about what Shadows and Personae were. Right now we were waiting in the lobby of Tartarus, and during all the time it took us to come here, no one had uttered a single word. Not even Junpei! What was the world coming to, really?

As for what we were waiting well... Mitsuru merely told us she would be a little late...

**Vrooooom!**

Speaking of the devil, here she was...

…

HOLY FUCKING SHIT! I now perfectly understood why she was late. I highly doubt she wanted the rest of the town to see her like this. Indeed, Mitsuru was clad in nothing but the infamous High cut armor. And it was... Freaking. Awesome. Damn! Why can't electronic works during the Dark Hour! I need to take a picture!

Once Mitsuru got down from her motorcycle I took notice of the huge blush adorning her face and the fact that she was fidgeting uncomfortably. Not surprising given that everyone was starring at her with various expressions plastered on their faces.

"W-What?" She stuttered, though the question appeared to be mostly directed at me. I would have love nothing more than to spend some time teasing her, but we had already lost too much time and I was dead set on not fooling around anymore, at least not while in a Shadow-related environment. There was a place and time for everything.

"Nothing." I said with a shake of the head. "You do realize you could've just put the armor on top of some normal clothes, right?" I deadpanned. True, doing this may have slightly reduced her mobility but the protection gained from the armor made it more than worth it. Speaking of which, why didn't I think of that earlier... Maybe my perverted mind was clouding my thoughts at the time... Damn, I was really starting to act like Ted if that was the case. I ignored Mitsuru's shock filled face, which was probably due to my reaction or lack thereof. Or maybe she was simply too busy mentally berating herself for not thinking of an alternate solution on her own, therefore indulging herself in such shameful act... Definitely the second.

I clapped my hands loudly for all to hear. "Alright kids! We have a tower to explore! No fooling around. I want to reach that so called barrier by the end of tonight's session!" My announcement done I headed toward the teleporter.

* * *

The ascension of the tower was made without any outside support. Apparently Mitsuru was too busy venting her frustration on some poor innocent bystander. May your soul find peace, Akihiko.

Anyway, thanks to that Mitsuru hadn't noticed the fact that my SR had increased even before entering the tower. Therefore I could now put the blame on the Shadows we had encountered today. Yep. Everything was going just great.

We finally reached the stairs leading to the last Boss Shadow currently accessible. Time to contact Mitsuru.

"Hey Mitsuru, sorry to interrupt your private time with Akihiko but we kinda need support here." I called. My teammates all let out a slight chuckle at that, and I could swear I somewhat heard Mitsuru hiss at me over the communicator. Nah, probably some crappy interference.

/- _Just go already._ -/ She answered coldly.

I glanced back at my teammates. No words were exchanged. They all nodded at me to indicate that they were ready. I gave a nod of my own and went up the stairs. We were immediately greeted by an huge Shadow rushing at us. It was obviously a Chariot arcana. A huge armored body mounted on leg shaped wheels. Its arms if they could be called that, were two giants spike protruding from each of his sides. The last thing worthy of notice, was the yellow mask laying on top of the armor which may have been an indication about which element this thing was using..

I immediately acted on instinct and ran ahead of the group. I reared back my right arm and started to use shape manipulation in conjunction with the water element. The result? A water shaped fist roughly the size of the Shadow was now covering the extremity of my arm. With a cry I swung said appendage at the monster. The impact was enough to send the creature fly in the opposite direction. The Shadow crashed against a wall, effectively killing it's momemtum. I took out my luger and shot three bullets at the monstrosity. My fear were confirmed when all of them bounced harmlessly off the heavily reinforced armor.

"Surround it! Keep yourself at max distance! It's most likely immune to all physical attack! Yukari be careful for any Zio spell it may use!" I barked my orders, my eyes not leaving the Shadow.

I placed my gun back into the holster and rushed toward the recovering monster. Now was a good time to use my second fusion spell. I crossed my arm, palm wide open, and closed my eyes. Two cards descended in my hands.

"Fusion spell..." I muttered, not stopping my charge. "**LIFE CYCLE!**" I crushed the cards, uncrossing my arms as I did so. My eyes flew open as a familiar rush of power began coursing through me. Yamato-Takeru and Izanagi-no-Okami appeared, flying at my side. Two blades began to form in my hands.

In my right hand, a blade made of pure light. Radiating a calming warmth. A blade capable of cutting through the deepest darkness.

In my left hand, a blade made of unrestrained shadows. Swallowing all light and oozing nothing but cold and unforgiving emptiness.

In my right hand, was the physical incarnation of life, whereas in my left, was the incarnation of death.

This, was **Life Cycle**, my second fusion spell.

To be perfectly honest I hadn't perfectly mastered this spell yet. In addition to that, my experience in dual-wielding was passable at best. Yet, this was the perfect weapon I needed against this foe.

Now in range, I jumped at the monster and swung both of my blade downwards, aiming at the mask. The Shadow shifted its body at the last moment and I ended up cutting through one of its arm instead. I sliced through it effortlessly. The monster let out a roar of pain. His body began to spin and I had to duck under the remaining spike in order to avoid getting hit.

The sound of gunshots reasoned through the room. A fireball crashed right into the yellow mask of the Shadow. An ice spike went through his body and a wave of wind made him lose its footing. Taking that as my cue to continue my attacks, I lunged toward the downed form of the monster.

/- _Be careful! It's starting to charge up a spell!_ -/ Warned Mitsuru.

I stopped in my tracks and leaped backward, narrowly avoiding being struck by lightning. I shifted my Persona to Rokuten-Maoh and sliced at the card with one of my blade. A second wave of lightning hit me but I was unaffected by it. The same couldn't be said for the others as I heard a sharp cry of pain from one of my teammates. Rokuten-Maoh had closed the distance between the Shadow and myself and delivered a massive strike at its body. For the second time tonight, the monster went crashing against a wall. This time however it ended up buried under a pile of rubble.

/- _Strike attacks are effective!_ -/ Announced Mitsuru.

I switched my Persona one more and sliced the card. Susano-o materialized and cast a Sukukaja on me. Again, lightning began to fall, I dodged the spell with my newfound speed. The form of the Shadow emerged from the rubble, only to get struck by another fireball along with a second ice spike. I lunged toward the monster once again and quickly found myself at striking distance. The body of the Shadow began to spin on itself once more, in preparation for an attack. I crouched down, dodging the blow, and spun in the opposite direction, slashing the air with both of my blade. My weapons hit their mark and began eating through the frame of the enemy. I found myself forced to leap away as the Shadow began to trash around violently. I dismissed my blades, my SP starting to run dangerously low.

"Junpei! Hamuko! Give me some fire!" I shouted.

**Bang! Bang!**

Two fireballs appeared, flying fast toward the enemy. I crushed Susano-o's card and fueled the fire with a Garu spell. Our combined actions resulted in an inferno that engulfed everything on its path. I didn't lowered my guard yet though.

"Mitsuru?" I called quietly.

/- _It's still alive._ -/ I groaned at her answer.

A loud roar was heard through the room, making the walls vibrate under its intensity. The Shadow ran out of the fire. It was in a bad shape. Its body was charred everywhere and it was incapable of standing straight anymore. To my surprise though its body began to expand. And that same surprise ended up costing me a lot. The monster was upon me faster than I could react and was hit in the chest by the blunt side of its remaining spike. I heard my bone creak under the pressure and spat some blood upon the impact. I flew away due to the massive force of the blow. I gritted my teeth in pain. I switched my Persona.

"IZANAGI!" My impromptu flight was cut short as I was caught by the white-clad god. He carefully dropped me on the ground before disappearing. The Shadow was running toward me in an berserk rage, shrugging off all the spells thrown at him by my teammate. I switched my Persona once again I threw my right arm out in front of me.

"Aqua!" Several water blast shot out of my hand, hitting the ground in front of me and forming a large puddle. The Shadow didn't change its course and ran directly in the puddle. My arm still placed in front of me, I smirked and calmly whispered the name of my spell. "Zio..." Lightning struck water. The monster began to twitch madly, electricity arcing through its body. He slowly began to catch fire until it finally stopped moving altogether. The frame finally dispersed in a black shroud, indicating its death. I let out a sigh of relief.

Tired from the fight I decided to sit for a moment, my body protesting as I did so. Bastard only touched me once but man, what a hit...

_Swish!_

Here comes the cards. So, what do we have today... Terra, again... Charm, again... Acid breath? I think I'll pass for now. I sighed. May as well go with Charm. The cards began to spin, I quickly caught the one I wanted. I turned the card, making sure I didn't miss. I was so used to this by now it wasn't even funny. And here comes the headache.

I blinked in confusion as the pain subsided. This, was a demon card? Honestly I was expecting something a little more... impressive. From the information I got, Charm was merely a Dia spell that had the possibility to gift the target with a -kaja spell. An interesting fact about this spell though, was that it didn't require any SP at all. All in all I guess it wasn't that bad of a choice.

"Are you okay, Souji-kun?" I glanced at the worried face of Hamuko and gave her a small smile.

"Yeah, just trying to sort out my new skill." I replied, not wanting her to worry too much. My chest was still hurting a little but nothing too excessive.

"A new ability? Again?" Junpei asked, sounding a bit miffed.

"What can I say? I'm like Megaman. I get a little more awesome each time I defeat a boss." ...Maybe I should lay off video games for a while.

"Well, when you put it that way I guess that make sense." Junpei conceded with a nod.

Both Yukari and Hamuko shook their heads and sighed at our antics. I stood up, suppressing a wince. Time to test that new spell of mine.

"Charm!" I called the name of the spell. And regretted it almost immediately. I was bathed in a pink light along with what appeared to be... flying hearts and fairies. The spell healed all of my injuries and I could somehow feel the effect of a Tarukaja spell taking hold on my body. But, at what cost... Indeed, the pink glow wasn't leaving at all, and it would probably stay like that until the -kaja spell ran off.

"HAHAHAHAHA!" Junpei began to laugh like crazy at the light show that accompanied my new healing spell. Even the girls let out a slight giggle. I groaned in annoyance.

"Alright, alright you all had a good laugh so now can we move? We still have a barrier to reach." I said before heading toward the teleporter for a short stop by the lobby.

"C'mon! Don't get your panties in a knot miss leader! HAHAHAHA!" Junpei continued. You want to play it like this? Fine! I aimed one of my arm at Junpei...

"Charm!" I called for the second time. Junpei was now covered with his very own pink aura.

"D-Dude! Not cool!" He cried in alarm. I shrugged and went for the teleporter.

* * *

While the team was busy using the recovery machine, I chose this moment to start a conversation with Mitsuru.

"You really did a number on him didn't you?" I commented, nudging the unconscious body of Akihiko with one of my foot.

"What of it?" She demanded curtly to which I simply shrugged.

"Say, what happened with that Shadow at the end of the fight?" I finally decided to ask. It was something that kept bothering me ever since we defeated it.

"I don't know. I can only say that its overall fighting capacities increased when it was about to die. Maybe a Tarukaja spell?" Mitsuru suggested. I shook my head in the negative.

"No. I've seen Tarukaja and that wasn't it at all. That Shadow freaking grew in size... In all my time as a Persona-user I've never seen something even remotely like this. It's not that it was overly dangerous but I don't like being in the unknown." I gave another nudge at the body, but in my frustration it ended up looking more like a kick than anything else. I heard Akihiko groan in pain but thankfully he still didn't wake up.

"We're ready!" Called Yukari. I turned my attention back to my team and saw them near the teleporter. I sighed.

"Time to get back to work..."

* * *

Starting from the last teleporter, it didn't took us very long to reach the stairs leading toward the last level currently available to us. And what we found beyond them was mind-boggling.

"How is that even possible?" Yukari muttered, and I found myself sharing her opinion.

The last floor was nothing else but a flying platform with stairs leading toward a new block of Tartarus. The access to the stairs was blocked by a greenish barrier and a vast number of school desks. The barrier appeared to be generated by some kind of pylon. All attempt to destroy it were met with failure.

But what really got our attention was the surrounding of the platform we currently were on. A gigantic maze that seemed to be in perpetual evolution. Sure, it was nothing new, but seeing it with our own eyes was something completely different. There was also the fact that the maze was half the size of Iwatodai in terms of width, which was technically impossible. Basically, it was nothing short of a big 'fuck you' to every single law of physics.

"Well, we completed our objective for tonight. Good job everyone. Let's go home and catch some sleep, alright?" I finally said.

Yukari and Junpei took the teleporter back to the lobby. I was about to do the same when Hamuko grabbed one of my sleeves. I turned my gaze toward her.

"Here." She said quietly, handing me a piece of paper. I looked at it. It appeared to be an old document. Most of it was impossible to read. except for a single sentence.

_'The electricity's hooked up. But why do they need so much? There's only a school on this island...'_

A dark frown came across my face. It was still too soon to make assumptions, but this message only served to reinforce my already growing suspicions. I sincerely hoped that I was wrong for if I wasn't, it would mean that...

**Tartarus, may have been created by man...**

* * *

**Chapter 11 End.**

**Note:** First of, a big thank you to Dragginninja who is now the official beta-reader for this story. I hope it will made reading this story as a whole, a lot more enjoyable for you guys.

Chapter 11 finally here, a little late but a little longer than the last one so that's okay... It was a pain to write as I had to check with canon source when I wrote the whole explanation about Shadows and Personae. Indeed, S.E.E.S. did not learn about that until the end of 'the answer'.

Question time!

A little descriptions of the fusion spell Life Cycle:

* * *

**Name:** Life Cycle ** Type:** Light/Shadow/Almighty **Spiritual Cost:** Low / Drain SP continuously

**Description:** Summon two blades made of both Light and Shadows. When the two blades are used with one another they both negate their respective element, thus turning the spell into an almighty attack. It is possible to summon only one of the blade.

May posses some other abilities that are yet to be found.

* * *

**Demon Cards:** Some of you may think it's slightly disappointing. True, the demon card shown in this chapter is less than impressive. The thing is, I don't want for Souji to become godlike just because of said cards. This chapter introduce a demon card that function very much like a spell card, but in the future in intend to integrate demon cards that will modify up to the very physiology of Souji. I won't go into too much details yet but to give a few example: flight, devil speed and of which: If you do have idea about some of the spell you would like to be introduced(In any categories, and it can be an completely original spell) Please add it in your reviews. The only thing I really ask is that it doesn't end up being too overpowered.

Now to answer the reviews:

**Bobcat86: **The scenario for Izanami's fight is already planned(Mostly), still thank you for the idea. :p Universe arcana will appear, as for how, you will have to wait and see!

**AngrySquid8: **About the animal cracker: Sadly no because Souji took the animal crackers... and ate it! (Did I just made a crappy death note reference? Yes, yes I did.)

About the universe/world arcana: That's a good question. Personally the way I see it, Hamuko is far more powerful than Souji when she reach the end of her journey. I will even things out in this story.

**Anon:** Sorry, strictly SoujiXHamuko. (Not to say there won't be other pairings though.)

**Humilityhehe:** The demons weren't 'real' demon but demon cards. For a more detailed explanation, you can read what I wrote just a little higher. :p

I thank you all for the reviews and will see you next time!


	12. AN: Late

Hello everyone,

This is my first AN, and hopefully, it will be the last.

Anyway as for why I'm posting an AN in the first place: I'm sorry that the next chapter is taking so much time. I've hit a bit of a writer block, add to that the current vacation and all those thing make the current chapter hard to write.

I have no intention to rush the chapter as I absolutely refuse to post something half-assed. Originally I hadn't thought posting an AN was necessary but in retrospect maybe I should have.

As for people who are wondering if I intend to stop this story: Absolutely not.

If I **EVER** decide to stop it, it would be because I have no other choice and not because of my own decision. In the case this happens, I will definitely post a warning to inform the ones who follow this story. But be assured at this moment I have every intention to finish it, no matter how long it will take.

Sadly, I have no idea how much time it will take me to finish this chapter, hopefully it will come this month, if not, not to long after...

I take this occasion to thank you all for the reviews. I enjoy reading each and everyone of them.

Once again I'm sorry and I will see you all next time!


	13. AN: 2

Hello everyone,

This is my second AN to date, a shame it had to follow just after the first one... The reason for this post is to once again explain why there haven't been any chapters in so long despite the previous promise of Chapter 12 coming out 'in the coming months'.

Let me start off by saying this: Chapter 12 **IS** ready. It has been for quite a few months actually. Why not post it then? Well, you must first realize that Chapter 12 itself took quite some amount of time to write, due in no small part to a writer block. Lacking sufficient inspiration, I decided to go over the previous chapters I had already written. Needless to say, I didn't like what I saw. The first chapters were a condensed of spelling mistakes, grammatical errors, and the way I would turn certain sentences simply didn't sit well with me.

I like to think that my writing skills have grown ever since I've posted the very first chapter of SSTJ, and that I now possess a better grasp of the English language. Thus, upon completion of Chapter 12, I went on to rewrite the first chapters of SSTJ in a way that would satisfy me.

The rewrite of Chapter 1 through 3 is completed and Chapter 4 is halfway done. The plot itself is the same, but with additional scenes and details that will render, I hope, the story much more pleasant to read for you guys. I have full intention to rewrite the following chapters in pretty much the same way.

Now comes another problem: Persona 4 Arena.

SSTJ is a Fan fiction, Non-canon elements **will** be introduced as the story continue to progress, but I'd very much like to use canon as **a base** for it all. So I paused into the rewrite and waited for Arena to come out. Bad news is, I'm European. And it has recently been announced that P4: Arena will not come out in Europe until 2013...

While waiting for Arena, P4: Golden came out, and I completed it yesterday. This game is simply a masterpiece, but it is also a prime example of what is bothering me with Arena. P4 golden introduced so many new elements that I want to include in SSTJ, Marie being of course the main one. This is something that will be difficult/impossible to do if I progress too much in the scenario of SSTJ. I know nothing of what happens in Arena, but it could be that it forces me to change the direction this story is taking, just like P4: Golden did. It is not a bad thing, in fact it will only make the scenario all the more interesting, and it is also the reason I prefer to keep Chapter 12 on hold. With that being said, the only thing left to do is to make it official.

**Seta Souji's True Journey** will go into Hiatus and that until Persona: Arena comes out in Europe.

There you have it guys. I'm sorry for such a huge delay and I sincerely hope you will understand the reasons behind it.

Hoping to see you people again when the next chapter finally comes out.


End file.
